*Defense attorneys: Slater incompetent to stand trial

By Alex Bridges -- abridges@nvdaily.com

(5:05 p.m.) WINCHESTER -- Lawyers for Justin Shane Slater say their client isn't competent to stand trial for the murders of his brother and ex-girlfriend.

Slater, 24, of stands charged with two counts of capital murder for the June 10 deaths of his brother, Gregory Scott Slater Jr., 28, of 293 Valley Mill Road, Winchester, and ex-girlfriend, Kayleigh Marie Plamondon, 22, of White Post.

The maximum penalty for capital murder in Virginia is death.

His capital murder charges are in Clarke and Frederick counties. Authorities found Gregory Slater in his home June 11, dead from a gunshot wound to the head. They discovered Plamondon in a house in Lost City, W.Va., June 13. Her cause of death has not been released.

Slater's legal counsel, public defender Timothy Coyne and former capital defense attorney Joseph T. Flood, plan to argue for a motion in Frederick County Circuit Court on Tuesday that their client should undergo an evaluation for competency.

"Mr. Slater's mental health is such that he lacks the capacity to rationally assist his attorneys, either in preparation or participation in his defense or in being evaluated ... as required by statute," the motion states.

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