A Holdrege man accused of killing two men and seriously injuring his lawyer is intending to rely on an insanity defense.
Manuel Gomez, 47, of Holdrege appeared Tuesday in Phelps County District Court on a pre-trial hearing. His attornies had previously filed a motion of their intention to rely
upon an insnaity defense. Court records says the attornies requested a continuance of the hearing to allow for more discovery and providing the State with a report from a psychologist retained by the defense.
Judge Stephen R. Illingworth granted the continuance. The prosecution also gave notice of their intent to request that would allow the State to have Gomex examined by thier own qualified expert.
Gomez is accused of killing Raymond Burton, 65, and David Rogers, 54, and seriously injuring Doyle Morse, 64, on February 21 2019 at their individual residences in Holdrege.
In July 2020. Gomez pleaded not guilty to all felony charges including:
Two Counts of first-degree murder
One count of first-degree assault
three counts of use of a firearm to commit a felony
one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm
one count of being a habitual criminal.
Earlier in July, Gomez was found competent to stand trial after undergoing two competency evaulations in 2019.
Gomez’s pre-trial hearing was continued to May 24th in Phelps County District Court.
