A man accused of beheading a co-worker at a food processing plant in suburban Oklahoma City is set to undergo a rare legal proceeding to determine whether he is competent to stand trial.
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In September 2014, Nolen was arrested on suspicion of attacking Hufford with a knife and beheading her at Vaughan Foods in the city of Moore, police said.
Investigators have informed that Nolen had just been suspended from Vaughan Foods when he got inside the company’s administrative office and pounced on Hufford with a deadly knife, severing her head.
Dr. Anita Russell testified Monday during the first day of a competency hearing that will decide whether Alton Nolen can be tried for murder.
Psychological examinations of Nolen have been filed under seal in the case and defense attorneys have not said whether they plan to pursue an insanity defense if the case goes to trial.
A defense psychologist testified that the 31-year-old is incompetent, saying he has a low IQ and suffers from mild retardation.
“He understands what could happen to him in regard to the death penalty”, she said. Prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty.
She said Nolen refused to talk about legal defenses and expressed a general distrust of attorneys.
The Oklahoma State Medical Examiner determined that Hufford died from decapitation due to “multiple sharp force trauma” to the neck. District Attorney Greg Mashburn has said Nolen had “some sort of infatuation with beheadings”, but that the attack appeared to have more to do with his suspension than his religious conversion. Nolen has also been charged with assault and battery carrying a lethal weapon and attacking a second colleague – a 43-year-old Traci Johnson.
The owner of the plant, Sheriff’s Deputy Mark Vaughn, put an end to the carnage when he grabbed a rifle and shot Nolen.
However, during cross-examination by prosecutors, Russell conceded that Nolen received a couple of A-grades on a few psychology courses he took during a short period in college.
He began his six-year sentence for cocaine possession April 26, 2011.
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On Nolen’s Facebook page, listed under the name Jah’Keem Yisrael, he posted photos of Osama bin Laden and Taliban fighters, along with posts condemning a variety of aspects of American life.
