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By
D.C. Witness Staff
- November 2, 2018
Court
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Daily Stories
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Homicides
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Suspects
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A prosecutor in a murder case told a judge Nov. 2 that he is waiting on a second mental competency report before he would consider offering a defendant a plea deal.
Peter Spencer is charged with second-degree murder while armed for allegedly stabbing his 71-year-old father, Harrison Spencer, on the 1600 block of 33rd Street, NW in 2016.
According to court documents, Spencer, 34, told the police, “I just stabbed to death my father.” Spencer said he stabbed his father “like fifteen times.”
Spencer told a 911 operator that voices told him to kill his father, the documents said.
Spencer was deemed incompetent in January. A second competency exam was ordered in April. During the status hearing, District of Columbia Superior Court Judge Judith Bartnoff continued the case to give the doctor more time to complete the competency report.
While the prosecution does not expect the second report would differ from the report released in January, the prosecutor said he still needs the report to be completed before a possible plea can be discussed.
In August, Spencer’s attorney, Ronald Resetarits, informed the court that he planned to use an insanity defense.
Spencer is currently being held at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, DC’s psychiatric hospital.
He is scheduled for another status hearing on Dec. 17.