BANGOR (AP) – A judge has ruled that a man who was accused in the slaying of his mother in Caratunk last June is not mentally competent to stand trial for murder.

Penobscot County Superior Court Justice Joseph Jabar ruled during a hearing Tuesday that William Bruce, 25, who had a long history of mental illness leading up to the fatal attack on Amy Bruce, will be committed to a mental hospital.

Assistant Attorney General Andrew Benson said Bruce will likely be committed to the Riverview Psychiatric Center in Augusta.

Bruce never entered a plea in the case. Psychiatric examiners from the state forensic service testified that Bruce was severely mentally ill at the time of the crime last June 20. A psychologist and a psychiatrist testified that he was psychotic and delusional.

According to testimony provided to the court, Bruce told his examiners that he heard a voice he believed to be that of the pope telling him to kill his 47-year-old mother, said Philip Mohlar, Bruce’s attorney.

Bruce’s psychotic episode the day of the killing was apparently triggered by a letter he received that morning from the U.S. Army, in which he had served, Mohlar said. Bruce had a delusional episode in which he thought he needed to kill his mother to help make the world safe and protect American troops, he said.

Bruce had been released from Riverview and was living with his parents in their home at the time of Amy Bruce’s slaying. He had refused to take his medications in the weeks before the slaying and his condition deteriorated.

His parents had tried to get help for their son, but their efforts were stymied by laws meant to protect the rights of the mentally ill, according to statements from his father, Robert “Joe” Bruce.

Amy Bruce died from blunt force trauma to the head, according to a state police affidavit. Bruce fled from the scene and was arrested in South Portland.

“He is having a very difficult time now that he understands the reality of what happened and what he did. It has been very emotionally hard on him. Heart-wrenching, really,” said Mohlar.

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