A Lead Hill man facing two counts of capital murder has been found mentally unfit for trial, at least for now.
Glen Froehlich, 36, has been committed to the custody of the director of the Arkansas Department of Human Services, according to a commitment order filed Tuesday in Boone County Circuit Court in Harrison.
The department is to report back to the court within 10 months if Froehlich regains fitness to proceed, according to the order signed by Circuit Judge John Putman.
Otherwise, the department is to report to the court in 10 months if it determines Froehlich's "mental disease or defect is of a nature precluding restoration of fitness to proceed," according to the order.
Glen Froehlich was charged in October 2015 in the shooting deaths of his mother, Helen Froehlich, 61, and Frank Simpson, 60.
A fitness-to-proceed evaluation was ordered for Glen Froehlich last January. On Dec. 5, Putman ordered Froehlich to reappear in court, noting a "report says not fit to proceed."
Mental evaluations include two components: fitness to proceed and criminal responsibility. Fitness to proceed concerns the defendant's ability to understand the charges against him and communicate with his attorney.
The bodies of the two victims were found Oct. 3, 2015, after bake-sale organizers called the Boone County sheriff's office saying they hadn't been able to reach Helen Froehlich since Oct. 1.
Two weeks earlier, concerned about his mental state, Helen Froehlich had asked her son to stop sleeping in a house that was being built on her property, according to Sheriff Mike Moore and an affidavit from Sgt. Jason Brisco with the sheriff's office.
Glen Froehlich responded by threatening her, firing a rifle into the ground and going back into the house, according to the affidavit filed in Boone County Circuit Court.
Deputies arrived, "but he ran off into the woods," Moore said.
The homicide victims were found and Froehlich was arrested Oct. 3, 2015, after a five-hour standoff with police in which no shots were fired. The victims died a day or two before being found, according to the affidavit.
Helen Froehlich was shot while she was in bed watching television, according to the affidavit. Simpson, who lived in an apartment in the Froehlichs' barn, was shot while sitting behind a desk at a computer.
Twelve spent shell casings from a Chinese SKS 7.62x39mm rifle were found at the scene of the shootings, according to the court filing.
Two dogs at the foot of Helen Froehlich's bed also had been shot. In addition to two counts of capital murder, Glen Froehlich was charged with cruelty to animals, being a felon in possession of a firearm and being a habitual offender.
Glen Froehlich also is charged with aggravated assault over the Sept. 19, 2015, instance when he reportedly threatened his mother and fired a shot into the ground.
He pleaded innocent to all the charges.
Metro on 01/05/2017