Competency Hearing For Alton Nolen Continues

A man accused of beheading one co-worker and assaulting others returned to court Friday. In fact, he's entered a plea. Now a judge is trying to decide if Alton Nolen is competent enough to do that.

Nolen has already indicated multiple times he would like to plead guilty and receive the death penalty. All of that for the September 2014 attack at Vaughan Foods in Moore, where he killed coworker Colleen Hufford by beheading her and tried to attack two others.

Court records state the brutal and deadly attack happened after Nolen was suspended from his job at the plant. On Friday psychologist Antoinette McGarrahan sat before attorneys laying out her belief Nolen is suffering from a mental disorder.

She explained her competency evaluation and findings that Nolen does not understand the concept of innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

McGarrahan's further cognitive testing revealed paranoia, hyper religiosity, and delusional thinking. What she saw as an unspecified psychotic disorder, other psychologists in court characterized as Nolen being uncooperative.

The judge has reserved her ruling on his plea until this competency hearing is complete.