Judge orders Marion man charged with killing 4 people to undergo mental evaluation

CEDAR RAPIDS — A judge Wednesday ordered a Marion man charged with bludgeoning four people to death with a metal pipe to undergo a competency evaluation at the state’s forensic psychiatric hospital and temporarily suspended proceedings in his quadruple murder trial.

Sixth Judicial District Judge Liz Dupuich, in her order, said the information provided to the court from lawyers for Luke Wade Truesdell, 34, charged with four counts of first-degree murder, supports a finding he is suffering from a mental disorder that prevents him from understanding the charges and proceedings or assisting in his defense.

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A hearing set for Wednesday on the defense’s motion for a competency evaluation was canceled, and Dupuich issued her ruling instead without it.

Truesdell will be sent to Iowa Medical and Classification Center in Coralville for the mental evaluation, according to the order. The evaluator is authorized to provide any necessary treatment.

All the court proceedings in this case, including the trial previously set for Sept. 10, will be suspended until the evaluation is complete, Dupuich wrote. A hearing will then be set and the court will review the evaluation. If Truesdell is found competent, the court will lift the suspension and likely set a new trial date. If not, Truesdell would return to the hospital while doctors seek to restore his competency.

If the evaluation hasn’t been completed by Aug. 16, Dupuich will have a status hearing on the progress of the evaluation.

When Truesdell’s trial was set earlier this month for Sept. 10, competency wasn’t mentioned by his defense as an issue.

Truesdell initially demanded his speedy trial right, but filed a waiver Wednesday.

June killings

Amanda Sue Parker, 33, of Vinton, and her boyfriend, Romondus “Roe” Lamar Cooper, 44, of Cedar Rapids, and Brent Anthony Brown, 34, and his girlfriend, Keonna Victoria Ryan, 26, of Cedar Rapids, were found June 5 with blunt force injuries to the head and neck in an outbuilding at 3699 East Otter Rd., near Marion. The property is owned by Lon Brown, the father of Brent Brown.

Brent Brown was the only victim still alive when Linn County sheriff’s deputies responded just before 4 p.m. to a call from a witness who found the deadly scene. He died from his injuries three days later on June 7. Lon Brown told The Gazette that test results showed his son had no brain activity.

The Gazette has attempted to contact other family members, but they did not respond or declined to comment.

A criminal complaint stated Truesdell told deputies he bludgeoned the four with a metal pipe. Video surveillance captured images of him in the area of the outbuilding, the complaint states.

There have been no details about how Truesdell was able to attack the four victims and whether all the victims were in the outbuilding with Truesdell at the same time.

Linn County Attorney Nick Maybanks, in the complaint, said Truesdell provided “several motives,” including that he thought a movie would be made about the killings. The other motives were not included in the complaint.

Authorities haven’t released further information regarding the investigation.

Amber Sangalli, a friend and co-worker of Parker, told The Gazette that Parker and her boyfriend, Cooper, had been evicted from their home last summer and started living in the outbuilding two months later. Sangalli said she didn’t know Truesdell and didn’t know of any connection between him and Parker or the others.

Truesdell remains in the Linn County Jail on a $4 million cash-only bail.

Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com