Michael Keith Spell
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Montana District Judge Richard Simonton addresses a witness appearing via video during a competency hearing for murder suspect Michael Keith Spell Tuesday, March 25, 2014, in Sidney, Mont. Simonton will have to sort out competing claims about Spell's fitness for trial. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)
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Montana District Judge Richard Simonton addresses the prosecution during a competency hearing for murder suspect Michael Keith Spell Tuesday, March 25, 2014, in Sidney, Mont. Simonton will have to sort out competing claims about Spell's fitness for trial. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)
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Defense attorney Al Avignone, right, speaks with Richland County Attorney Mike Weber, center, at the competency hearing for murder suspect Michael Keith Spell on Tuesday, March 25, 2014 in Sidney, Mont. Deputy County Attorney T.R. Halvorson, left, looks on. A state psychiatrist testified that Spell is fit for trial. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)
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FILE - In this Nov. 5, 2013 file photo, Sidney High School students fold the American flag at the end of a school day in Sidney, Mont. Almost two years after the murder of a long-time math teacher at the school, 43-year-old Sherry Arnold, Michael Keith Spell's bid to avoid trial and a potential death sentence in the killing of Arnold goes before a state judge Monday, March 24, 2014, to decide if the defendant is mentally disabled. His attorneys say Keith Spell, 24, has the mental capacities of a first-grader and is unfit for trial. If Judge Richard Simonton agrees, Spell could be sent to a state institution indefinitely. He’s charged with murdering Sherry Arnold in Jan. 2012 as she was jogging near her home in Sidney, Mont., then burying her body in North Dakota. An accomplice, Lester Van Waters, Jr., pleaded guilty under a plea deal that calls for him to testify against Spell. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)
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FILE - In this Jan. 9, 2012 file photo, the Chamber of Commerce sign in Sidney, Mont. offers prayers as friends, law enforcement and volunteers search the area around Sidney for high school teacher Sherry Arnold, 43, who went missing. Michael Keith Spell's bid to avoid trial and a potential death sentence in the killing of Arnold goes before a state judge Monday, March 24, 2014, to decide if the defendant is mentally disabled. His attorneys say Keith Spell, 24, has the mental capacities of a first-grader and is unfit for trial. If Judge Richard Simonton agrees, Spell could be sent to a state institution indefinitely. He’s charged with murdering Sherry Arnold in Jan. 2012 as she was jogging near her home in Sidney, Mont., then burying her body in North Dakota. An accomplice, Lester Van Waters, Jr., pleaded guilty under a plea deal that calls for him to testify against Spell. (AP Photo/The Billings Gazette, Larry Mayer)
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FILE - This Feb. 28, 2012 photo shows Lester Van Waters, in state district court in Sidney, Mont. for a hearing in the case of murdered Montana teacher Sherry Arnold. Michael Keith Spell's bid to avoid trial and a potential death sentence in the killing of Arnold goes before a state judge Monday, March 24, 2014, to decide if the defendant is mentally disabled. His attorneys say Spell, 24, has the mental capacities of a first-grader and is unfit for trial. If Judge Richard Simonton agrees, Spell could be sent to a state institution indefinitely. He’s charged with murdering Sherry Arnold in Jan. 2012 as she was jogging near her home in Sidney, Mont., then burying her body in North Dakota. An accomplice, Lester Van Waters, Jr., pleaded guilty under a plea deal that calls for him to testify against Spell. (AP Photo/Matt Brown)
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FILE - This undated photo provided by the Sidney, Mt., Police Dept. shows Sidney High School math teacher Sherry Arnold. Michael Keith Spell's bid to avoid trial and a potential death sentence in the killing of Arnold goes before a state judge Monday, March 24, 2014, to decide if the defendant is mentally disabled. His attorneys say Michael Keith Spell, 24, has the mental capacities of a first-grader and is unfit for trial. If Judge Richard Simonton agrees, Spell could be sent to a state institution indefinitely. He’s charged with murdering Sherry Arnold in Jan. 2012 as she was jogging near her home in Sidney, Mont., then burying her body in North Dakota. An accomplice, Lester Van Waters, Jr., pleaded guilty under a plea deal that calls for him to testify against Spell. (AP Photo/Sidney Montana Police Dept., File)
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FILE - In this Feb. 28, 2012 file photo, Michael Keith Spell arrives at Montana state district court in Sidney, Mont. for a hearing in the case of murdered Montana teacher Sherry Arnold. The Colorado man's bid to avoid trial and a potential death sentence in the killing of an eastern Montana teacher goes before a state judge Monday, March 24, 2014 to decide if the defendant is incompetent due to mental disability. His attorneys say 24-year-old Spell has the mental capacities of a first-grader and is unfit for trial. If Judge Richard Simonton agrees, Spell could be sent to a state institution indefinitely. (AP Photo/Matt Brown, File)
