PARIS (AP) – The cook accused of killing and dismembering four people in western Maine plans to stand trial next month, one of his lawyers said.

Christian Nielsen’s court-appointed attorneys entered a plea of not guilty using an insanity defense, but Nielsen himself told a judge at a competency hearing last week that he preferred to plead guilty to avoid a trial in Oxford County Superior Court.

Ron Hoffman, one of Nielsen’s attorneys, released a statement after meeting with the defendant over the weekend at the Riverview Psychiatric Center.

Hoffman said there will be no guilty plea because that would mean a substantial prison sentence for Nielsen. He said that if Nielsen is to be held in a secure facility, then it should be at a psychiatric hospital, not prison.

“Mentally ill persons such as Christian and others at the very least deserve to be in a secure hospital setting,” Hoffman said in a statement.

Nielsen is charged with killing three women at the Black Bear Bed & Breakfast in Newry over Labor Day weekend in 2006. Remains of a fourth victim, an Arkansas man who was a guest at the bed and breakfast, were found near Upton.

Last week, a judge ruled that Nielsen is competent to stand trial on Oct. 15.

In Maine, the competency standard requires Nielsen to understand the charges against him, understand his circumstances and have the ability to cooperate with his defense lawyers in a rational and reasonable way.

But the competency decision doesn’t preclude the defense team from using an insanity defense.

A psychiatrist who examined Nielsen at the request of the defense said the defendant suffers from schizoid personality disorder and also likely suffers from other mental problems including Asperger’s Syndrome, a mild form of autism.

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