Mental exam ordered for man accused of abandoning body

BLOOMFIELD — A Bernie man will undergo another mental examination to determine whether he understands the wrongfulness of his conduct at the time he allegedly abandoned the body of a woman in 2018.

Associate Circuit Judge Joe Satterfield issued an order Tuesday for Corey L. Gill to undergo a “pre-trial psychiatric examination on the issue of criminal responsibility.”

Satterfield issued his order a day after Gill’s attorney, Tamara Carlson with the Public Defender’s Office, filed a “notice of intent to rely on a defense of mental disease or defect excluding responsibility.”

The 51-year-old is charged with the Class E felony of abandonment of a corpse.

Between Nov. 8 and Nov. 19, 2018, Gill is accused of taking “possession of the corpse of Holly Kirkman by removing her deceased body from (his) property and knowingly abandoned (her) at 510 Walter Ave.” in Bernie “without properly” notifying authorities.

Kirkman, 38, according to earlier reports, was reported missing Nov. 17, 2018, by her father, who had last seen her at their 510 Walter Ave. residence on Nov. 8, 2018.

Kirkman’s body was found between 11 a.m. and noon Nov. 19, 2018, Bernie Police Chief Justin Allen earlier said.

Officers reportedly were searching Kirkman’s residence when they found her body inside the trunk of her 2004 Dodge Neon. The cause of Kirkman’s death has not been released.

After the charges were filed against Gill, his then public defender filed a motion in December 2018 seeking an examination by the Department of Mental Health and determination of her client’s fitness to stand trial.

After the examination, mental health officials “found him incompetent to proceed,” Stoddard County Prosecuting Attorney Russ Oliver earlier said.

In April 2019, Satterfield ordered Gill into the custody of the Department of Mental Health.

Oliver earlier said Gill would be there for about six months, during which time officials would “give him what they call competency training to see if his competency can be restored so he can stand trial.”

The notice filed Monday says Gill is giving “notice of his intent to rely on the defense of non-responsibility for any alleged criminal conduct because (Gill) as a result of mental disease or defect, did not or could not appreciate the nature, quality or wrongfulness of his conduct or was incapable of conforming his conduct to the requirements of law.”

The notice further says Gill has “no defense” to the charge pending against him other than the defense of mental disease or defect, and he “intends to rely solely on that defense.”

After considering the defense’s motion, Satterfield’s order says the court finds Gill should “undergo an examination for the purpose of assessing his mental state at the time of the alleged offense so the examiner can consider the issue of criminal responsibility.”

Gill, according to Satterfield’s order, earlier was examined, and in a letter dated Sept. 2, the examiner reported a “follow-up examination would be necessary on that issue if (Gill) decided to rely on that defense.”

Satterfield ordered the Stoddard County sheriff to deliver Gill to the superintendent of the Forensic Evaluation Service, Metropolitan Center, in St. Louis. No date has been set for the exam.

Once the examination is done, the examining physician(s) is to provide the court with a report, including an opinion as to Gill mental status at the time of the alleged crime.

“Once we get that determination from them, we will have a hearing on that,” Oliver said Wednesday morning. “The state will either accept that report or we will have the opportunity to obtain our own assessment of the defendant.”

Oliver explained the differences between these examinations.

The first exam, Oliver said, dealt with Gill’s ability to assist with his trial.

“The competency issue is a short-term, temporary finding about his ability to assist in his defense,” Oliver explained.

The defense’s new motion, according to Oliver, has to do with his mental capacity at the time the crime allegedly was committed.

“The NGIR, not guilty by reason of insanity, is did he have the (mental) capacity in the past, at the time the crime was committed,” to know” what he was doing was wrong, Oliver said.

If Gill is found “not guilty by reason of insanity, he would remain in the Department of Mental Health until such time as a judge ordered (him) out on a conditional release,” Oliver said.