A Franklin County man charged in the slayings of his parents last fall has been ordered to undergo an examination to determine if he is mentally fit to stand trial.
Franklin County Circuit Judge William Pearson signed the order Thursday for the mental evaluation of Dustin Jordan, 23, after a hearing. Jordan is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the Oct. 8 shooting deaths of Michael and Kathy Jordan at their rural home south of Ozark.
In the fitness to proceed motion filed Dec. 20, one of Jordan's attorneys, Sarah Capp of Ozark, wrote that Jordan was examined by psychiatrist Bradley Diner in preparation for Jordan's defense of innocence due to mental disease or defect.
"Dr. Diner issued a report of his evaluation, which reveals that Mr. Jordan has an inability to work with his counsel rationally and effectively in his own defense. He is actively psychotic, and delusional in thinking at the present time," Capp wrote in the motion.
The motion said Diner has recommended Jordan be transferred to the Arkansas State Hospital for a more comprehensive assessment in hopes of restoring Jordan to competency.
Capp also wrote in the motion that, according to the Franklin County sheriff's office, Jordan's mental condition had deteriorated in recent weeks and the county jail may not be properly equipped to handle his mental health needs.
Sheriff's deputies who were sent to the Jordans' home at 4305 Compressor Road about 4:20 p.m. Oct. 8 and found the couple lying face down, side by side in their living room with multiple gunshot wounds. Spent Hornady brand 9mm shell casings lay around them. Deputies found an empty box of 9mm Hornady ammunition in Dustin Jordan's bedroom. No gun was discovered.
An arrest warrant affidavit said Kathy Jordan had sent her husband a text message Oct. 6 saying she caught her son attempting to sneak into their room while she was asleep.
The affidavit also said a Franklin County incident report May 10 said the Jordans reported their son had become aggressive, struck his father and displayed a knife in a threatening manner.
Dustin Jordan was gone from the house when deputies arrived. Also missing was his parents' 2012 Ford pickup. After the pickup was entered into police databases as having been stolen, deputies received word the pickup had been stopped near Guthrie, Okla., for a traffic violation.
Tracking his cell phone, the sheriff's office located Jordan near Edmond, Okla., where local officers picked him up just before midnight Oct. 9.
NW News on 01/05/2019