Judge to determine if Schrenker is competent to stand trial

Posted:

March 19, 2009 05:36 PM EST


Chris Proffitt/Eyewitness News

Miami - Psychiatric experts have handed a Hamilton County judge their mental evaluation of Geist businessman Marcus Schrenker.
Schrenker is still in jail in Florida, accused of trying to fake his death and intentionally crashing his plane.
Saying that he was heavily medicated and under extreme stress a full year before his capture in a Florida campground after an apparent suicide attempt, Marcus Schrenker told Indiana authorities in a recent letter that he didn't try to fake his death in a plane crash.
Since last month, the former Geist money manager has undergone a mental evaluation in a Florida federal detention center to determine if he's competent to stand trial on charges that he intentionally crashed his airplane into the Florida panhandle after radioing a fake distress call. But before then, Marcus Schrenker faced divorce, lawsuits and an investigation into allegations that he bilked investors out of hundreds of thousands of dollars and perhaps more.
"This is a classic example of affinity fraud. The kind of fraud that happens by those we come to know, love and trust," said Todd Rokita, Indiana secretary of state.
With their assets frozen by an Indiana judge, Michelle Schrenker, publicly distancing herself from her husband's troubles, appeared on NBC's Today Show.
"He took the deposits and that was never something I did. My focus was always my family. It was never the company," said Michelle Schrenker.
Marcus Schrenker faces felony charges in Hamilton County related to his business dealings in Indiana. But what if he's found incompetent to stand trial on federal charges in Florida? Could that affect his prosecution here? Prosecutors say either way, Schrenker is expected to return to Indiana in late June or early July.
"Under Indiana law, if he's found not to be competent to stand trial, he would be consigned to the Department of Mental Health for evaluation and treatment. There he would remain until competent to stand trial," said Jeffrey Wehmueller, Hamilton County chief deputy prosecutor.
A judgment over whether Marcus Schrenker is competent to stand trial in Florida has already been made and now rest in the hands of a federal judge.
Schrenker was moved to a federal detention center in Tallahassee this week. The judge in the case is expected to set a hearing soon before ruling whether Schrenker is competent to stand trial.Marcus Schrenker is the subject of an hour-long report Friday night on Dateline NBC. It begins at 10:00 pm on Channel 13.
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