OWATONNA – Roger Schleicher will undergo another psychological evaluation, this time to determine whether he can claim a mental illness defense against first-degree murder charges, a judge ruled Thursday.

Tuesday, April 17, 2001

OWATONNA – Roger Schleicher will undergo another psychological evaluation, this time to determine whether he can claim a mental illness defense against first-degree murder charges, a judge ruled Thursday.

Schleicher will undergo the evaluation at the St. Peter Regional Treatment Facility, where he has been committed as mentally ill and dangerous since February, said Steele County Administrator Gordon Meiners.

&uot;They will evaluate (him) to determine whether, at the time of the crime, he didn’t know what he was doing, or didn’t know what he was doing was wrong,&uot; said Joe Bueltel, Schleicher’s attorney.

A Rice County Judge ruled for the evaluation for scheduling convenience, but the mental illness hearing will be tried in Steele County, Bueltel said. The hearing will be scheduled on advice of treatment professionals at St. Peter’s, he said.

A review hearing on Schleicher’s civil commitment as mentally ill and dangerous will be held on April 27 at 1:15, Meiners said.

The hearing is a normal procedural review held 90 days from the initial ruling, he said.

First-degree murder charges against Schleicher have been suspended until professionals determine his mental competency has been restored.

Schleicher is accused of luring a Waseca man to his Ellendale home and killing him last December.