PHOENIX (AP) -- A man charged with killing the operator of a speed-camera van along a Phoenix freeway has been found competent to stand trial, and will not face the death penalty.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Michael Kemp said in court Wednesday that 69-year-old Thomas Patrick Destories was found competent to stand trial by two psychologists and set his trial for July 12.
Destories' attorney Vanessa Smith had written in court documents that her client has a history of mental illness dating back to 1970, that their conversations have been disjointed and that he has showed paranoia. She declined to comment Wednesday.
Destories is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Doug Georgianni, who was doing paperwork last April inside a speed-camera van in north Phoenix when police say Destories fatally shot him.
