Judge orders competency evaluation for Norwich murder defendant
Judge Hillary B. Strackbein ordered a competency evaluation Tuesday for Patrick Antoine, who is accused of killing his wife and her unborn baby on June 2 and setting fire to their Norwich apartment.
Antoine, 39, is represented by Kevin C. Barrs, chief public defender for the New London Judicial District.
A clinical team will evaluate him at the Garner Correctional Institution, where he is being held in lieu of $2 million bond, and submit a report for the court's review.
To find him competent to stand trial, the evaluators would have to determine that he understands the court proceedings and is able to assist in his defense.
Antoine turned himself in to police and told them he killed his wife, Margarette Mady, because he believed she was "a Voodoo priestess" who planned to kill him by July 1 as a sacrifice before her baby girl was to be born.
He said they had argued all morning when he grabbed a wood-handled knife from the kitchen and stabbed her multiple times in the head and foot areas.
Antoine said he used a Bic lighter to set fire to the curtains in the bedroom, living room and bathroom and left the home.
Norwich Police initially charged Antoine with murder and first-degree arson.
Prosecutor David J. Smith added the charge of assault of a pregnant woman resulting in the termination of the pregnancy.
His next court date is Aug. 23.
Comment threads are monitored for 48 hours after publication and then closed.