Updated

Updated · Fox News · Oct 24

Alabama Prosecutors Weigh New Charges Against Thomas Steele, 47, After Courtroom Death Threat

Updated

Updated · Fox News · Oct 24

Alabama Prosecutors Weigh New Charges Against Thomas Steele, 47, After Courtroom Death Threat

Q: Will an Alabama man face extra charges for calmly ordering his public defender's death during a tense bond hearing?

It is not yet decided. Mobile County prosecutors have said they are still determining whether Thomas Henry Steele will face a separate charge for allegedly telling the court to “kill him” after a judge appointed public defender Glenn Davidson at the Oct. 13 bond hearing. Reporters in the courtroom said Steele first said “No” and then calmly repeated, “Kill him,” before he was removed without incident. Judge S. Wesley Pipes responded by ordering a competency evaluation, and later court filings said Steele’s mental condition had deteriorated enough to require commitment to the Alabama Department of Mental Health for inpatient treatment and evaluation. That means any decision on extra charges is likely to be shaped by both the evidence of what was said in court and Steele’s mental condition at the time. Prosecutors have publicly said only that the matter remains under review. Davidson has said he still represents Steele but cannot discuss details while the evaluation is pending. Steele is already charged with two counts of capital murder in the Oct. 12 deaths of his aunt, Christy DeLoach, 65, and grandmother, Dora Boone, 85, at the Mobile home where investigators believe he lived. A criminal complaint alleges he killed them with a chainsaw. He is being held without bond at a secure medical facility while doctors assess whether he is competent to stand trial, a process that could take up to 90 days.

2 articles · Updated · Fox News · Oct 24

Mobile County prosecutors are considering additional charges against Thomas Steele after he allegedly told a judge to kill his court-appointed lawyer during an Oct. 13 hearing.
Judge S. Wesley Pipes ordered an inpatient competency evaluation, and the district attorney’s office said Steele is being held without bond at a secure medical facility while treatment aims to restore him for trial.
The Alabama Department of Mental Health said the evaluation process could take up to 90 days, with prosecution moving ahead if Steele is found competent; his arraignment is set for Nov. 19.
Steele already faces two capital murder counts in the Oct. 12 killings of his aunt, 65-year-old Christy Deloach, and grandmother, 85-year-old Dora Boone, whom investigators say were killed with a chainsaw at their Mobile home.
A relative had called 911 hours earlier saying Steele had stopped taking lithium and was acting erratically but was not violent, adding to scrutiny over whether earlier intervention might have been possible.