Judge says Delling unfit to stand trial

BOISE – John Delling is not mentally competent to stand trial for first-degree murder, a judge ruled Wednesday, canceling Delling’s scheduled April trial and placing him in state custody for as long as 90 days so he can be treated for mental illness.

Fourth District Judge Deborah Bail placed Delling in the custody of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare for treatment.

A court-appointed psychologist testified last week that Delling is mentally unfit to stand trial because his paranoid schizophrenia prevents him from helping his attorneys fight the murder charge he faces in the April 2, 2007, slaying of Bradley Morse in Boise.

Ada County prosecutors did not object Wednesday to the findings of Boise-based clinical psychologist Dr. Chad Sombke, who performed the mental health evaluation requested by Delling’s lawyers.

According to court testimony, the jury trial will be rescheduled when Delling is determined mentally competent, the Idaho Statesman reported.

Delling is also charged with first-degree murder in Latah County in the March 31, 2007, shooting death of University of Idaho student David Boss in Moscow.

In a jailhouse interview with the Idaho Statesman in June, Delling said he drove more than 6,000 miles around the Western United States looking for people who had hurt him in the past.

Delling and Boss were classmates at a Boise high school, and Delling met Morse over the Internet through video games the two played, police have said.

“I’m pretty much possessed,” Delling said told the newspaper in June. “I have no control over my body.”

Ada County prosecutors have decided not to seek the death penalty in the Morse case, but Delling could still be sent to prison for life without possibility of parole if he’s convicted on the murder charge.