Second evaluation ordered for elderly murder suspect

LANCASTER — An 85-year-old man accused of shooting and killing his girlfriend at his home in January will undergo a second psychiatric evaluation to determine how the murder case will move forward.

Frederick Held, who is facing one count of murder, appeared in Fairfield County Judge David Trimmer's courtroom in a wheelchair with his attorney Scott Wood for a competency hearing on Monday.

The victim, Loretta Yoli's, family watched as attorneys discussed the next steps in the case. Yoli was reportedly fatally shot with a 20-gauge shotgun and found lying on Held's kitchen floor 4430 Carpenter Road SE in Berne Township on Jan. 6. Yoli had arrived earlier that day to spend the weekend with him, according to court documents.

A psychologist already determined Held is competent to stand trial, but Trimmer decided Monday that a psychiatrist should evaluate if Held knew the wrongfulness of the alleged actions.

"The court is in agreement that there's a lot of talk about the medication that the defendant was on at or near the time of the incident," Trimmer said. "And the psychologist that did the (initial) evaluation knew his or her limitations in drawing conclusions based on the medications the defendant allegedly was under the influence of. I'm not talking about narcotics or anything like that. I'm just talking about regular medications. So I believe that this is going to be a critical part of the next phase concerning the not guilty by reason of insanity."

When the Eagle-Gazette first reported on Yoli's death, Held's 911 call reporting the shooting had dispatchers confused. It was unclear if anyone in the home was shot and if someone still had a gun. From those conversations, there were questions as to whether the caller, Held, was mentally ill or had dementia.

A probable cause affidavit filed in the case reveals more information about what Fairfield County Sheriff's Office detectives found at the scene.

According to the affidavit, Held called 911 at 4:19 p.m. saying someone was shot and lying on his porch and that it "looked like 'a lady,' but he couldn't see well because he was looking out the crack of the door." Held said he heard the gun go off, but he wasn't sure how long ago it had been.

Held was on the phone with dispatchers for less than 10 minutes when one of his neighbors arrived and found Yoli on the kitchen floor, not on the porch as Held had indicated to 911. At the time, the neighbor said Yoli was still breathing but not coherent. The neighbor also told dispatchers Held and Yoli were the only two people in the home and that Held had a gun on the floor by him and his nose was bleeding.

Yoli was pronounced dead shortly after medics arrived. An autopsy was conducted, confirming Yoli died of a gun shot wound and also sustained a blunt force injury that caused bruising and laceration to her chest above the gunshot wound. Investigators determined the gunshot could not have been self-inflicted, according to the affidavit.

Held was taken to a hospital for treatment. He had reported having trouble breathing and said his face hurt because he was hit in the head with the butt of the shotgun.

Fairfield County Prosecutor Kyle Witt said he will find a psychiatrist in the next two weeks, which will push back the case's status conference originally scheduled Dec. 10. With the additional evaluation, Trimmer said it's more likely now for a status conference to be scheduled in January.

sremoquill@gannett.com

740-681-4342

Twitter: @SpencerRemo