* Judge orders mental exam for Slater

By Alex Bridges -- abridges@nvdaily.com

(3:50 p.m.) WINCHESTER -- A judge has ordered Justin Shane Slater to undergo a mental evaluation to determine his competency to stand trial on several charges including capital murder.

Slater appeared in Frederick County Circuit Court on Tuesday for a hearing on motions filed by his attorneys, public defender Timothy Coyne and Joseph Flood.

Slater, 24, of Buffalo Trail, Shawneeland, is charged with one count each of capital murder in Frederick and Clarke counties for the June 10 deaths of his brother, Gregory Scott Slater Jr., 28, and ex-girlfriend, Kayleigh Marie Plamondon, 22, of White Post. His indictments in both localities indicate capital murder of two people within three years of each death.

The maximum penalty for capital murder in Virginia is death.

But Slater's defense counsel argued in a motion filed with the court and heard Tuesday that their client isn't competent to stand trial. They based their argument on observations by a doctor hired by the defense to examine their client, their own experiences in working with Slater, as well as those of employees at the Northwestern Regional Adult Detention Center.

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