Fallon, Nev. • A 51-year-old man accused of a 2018 shooting at a rural Nevada church that killed one man and injured another was found incompetent Tuesday to stand trial.
A district judge issued the ruling based on his finding that John O’Connor of Fallon is unable to assist his attorney with his defense, the Lahontan Valley News reported.
O’Connor has been in custody at a mental facility in Sparks since September 2018 when another judge made a similar finding. He has pleaded not guilty to four charges, including first-degree murder, in the shooting two months earlier during Sunday services at a rural meetinghouses of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Fallon.
Judge William Maddox vacated a trial that had been scheduled to begin in March 2022.
O’Connor will return to the hospital to undergo additional risk assessments. A status hearing is set in district court Sept. 7.
O’Connor is charged with murder in the killing of Charles “Bert” Miller, a longtime volunteer firefighter in Fallon, and battery with a deadly weapon in the shooting of Miller’s brother, Duane Miller of Spanish Fork, Utah,
He’s also charged with assault with a deadly weapon for allegedly aimed the handgun at another member of the church and having a concealed weapon without a permit.
