Evander Ellis|Judge cites ‘hyper-religious’ belief in ruling man incompetent for trial in Minnesota killings

2025-05-06 00:35:53source:Winimark Wealth Societycategory:Scams

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota judge has ruled that a man accused in the deaths of three relatives is Evander Ellisincompetent to stand trial, citing the man’s “hyper-religious” belief that God is telling him to plead guilty.

David Ekers, 38, was charged with three counts of second-degree intentional murder for pipe wrench attacks in July 2020 in suburban Minneapolis that killed his sister, mother and grandmother.

But last week, Hennepin County Judge Julia Dayton Klein ordered Ekers to remain in a state security hospital indefinitely, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported Wednesday. The commitment order said Ekers told a doctor he planned to plead guilty “because I think Matthew 5 says, ‘you should settle with your accuser quickly.’ … It’s not that I want to go to prison or anything. It’s that I’m trying to follow what God says.”

The doctor determined that Ekers “was unable to consider what is in his best interest in light of his hyper-religious delusional rigidity, illogical and disorganized thought process and confusion, all of which are reflective of psychotic symptoms,” the order read.

Ekers was previously committed to the state institution on a court order that said he was schizophrenic in part because of years of consuming high-caffeine energy drinks.

More:Scams

Recommend

Four people were killed when vehicle smashed through Illinois building, police say

CHATHAM, Ill. (AP) — Four people were killed and several more were injured when a car smashed throug

Man accused of killing Tennessee deputy taken into custody, sheriff says

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A man accused of killing a Tennessee deputy and wounding another during a tr

The S&P 500, Dow, Nasdaq fall as traders push back forecasts for interest rate cuts

NEW YORK — U.S. stocks fell sharply Tuesday after disappointing inflation data made investors confro