MOBILE, Ala. — An Alabama man accused of killing his grandmother and aunt with a chainsaw had a chilling message when he appeared in court on Tuesday.
When a judge named a public defender for 47-year-old Thomas Henry Steele, the accused killer said no, NBC15 reported.
“Kill him,” Steele responded after a brief pause.
Steele made the remarks during his initial appearance in court, a hearing to determine whether he should receive a bond after he was accused of two counts of capital murder, according to the television station.
The judge ordered a mental competency evaluation and denied bond, WMBB reported.
“While Steele was in court, he made some kind of audible remark and he was removed from the courtroom without incident,” Mobile County District Attorney Keith Blackwood told NBC15.
According to court documents, Steele is accused of using a chainsaw to decapitate Christy DeLoach and Dora Boone. Their bodies were found on Monday inside a home in West Mobile.
DeLoach was Steele’s aunt, while Boone was his grandmother, Blackwood confirmed.
“What we know is or what we believe is that he lived at this residence with these family members when they were both killed,” Blackwood told reporters.
Blackwood did not elaborate about the allegations against Steele or the gruesome crime scene, stating that court documents would suffice, NBC15 reported.
“What’s contained in the complaint itself speaks to the gruesome nature of this,” Blackwood told the television station. “The details of that will come out in future proceedings.”
Blackwood said additional evaluations could determine Steele’s mental state at the time of the killings. Those could take between 30 to 60 days to complete, WMBB reported.
“I’m not a psychiatrist. ”Nevertheless (it) appears that there are some issues,” Blackwood said. “But there are going to be the appropriate evaluations to establish whether or not he’s competent right now to proceed.”
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