LOCAL : Suspect Ruled Competent to Stand Trial in Universal Studios Killings
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A former mental patient charged with the fatal shooting of two Universal Studios security guards last year is competent to stand trial, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruled today.
After reviewing a report from a court-appointed psychiatrist, Judge Florence Bernstein ruled that Nathan Trupp, 43, has progressed enough while under psychiatric care to be able to assist in his own defense.
Trupp, who at the time told investigators that he believed he was killing Nazis, is charged with the Dec. 1 slayings of Jeren Beeks, 27, and Armando Torres, 18. Both unarmed guards were shot to death at the main Universal Studios gate after they turned away Trupp, who had walked up and asked to see actor Michael Landon.
Trupp, who was shot three times and captured by a sheriff’s deputy shortly after the shooting, was ruled incompetent to stand trial Feb. 16. He was then ordered to undergo psychiatric care at Patton State Hospital, a facility for the criminally insane in San Bernardino County. He is scheduled for arraignment July 5.
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