PARIS — A hearing for a Peru man accused of sexually assaulting and killing his mother-in-law while his 6-year-old daughter watched has been postponed, his attorney said Friday. 

Attorney Sarah Glynn said Paul Orchard’s case would not be heard Monday, July 13, in Oxford County Superior Court because Assistant Attorney General Leane Zainea is unavailable. 

As of Friday afternoon the hearing had not been rescheduled. 

It was to allow Dr. Luke Douglass, who performed the court-ordered psychological examination of Orchard at Riverview Psychiatric Center in Augusta, according to Glynn.

“Dr. Douglass would provide a summary of his assessment of Mr. Orchard, from which the court would make a determination of whether Mr. Orchard should be found criminally responsible for the charges,” she said. 

A message left with an assistant at the Attorney General’s Office was not returned Friday. 

In March, Orchard entered pleas of not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity to one charge of depraved indifference murder and one charge of felony murder. 

In October 2014, a judge ordered Orchard to undergo a mental health examination by the State Forensic Service to determine if he is competent to stand trial. The results of that examination have not been made public. 

According to court documents filed by Zainea, Orchard has been previously treated for a mental illness and the circumstances of the case suggest those may persist. 

“The state anticipates that one of the likely issues in this case will be whether at the time of the offense the defendant was engaging in conduct that manifested a depraved indifference to murder or either intentional or knowing conduct as defined by the Maine Criminal Code, or the extent to which he was able to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct,” Zainea wrote in the document. 

Orchard has been held in Kennebec County Jail in Augusta awaiting trial in the sexual assault and strangulation death of Paula Nuttall, 57, who died at their home on Main Street on Oct. 11, 2014.

Police responded to Nutall’s house after receiving a 911 call from Orchard’s daughter. When they arrived an officer found Orchard covered in polyurethane and atop Nuttall, police said. 

The medical examiner determined Nuttall died from cardiac arrest during strangulation and sexual assault.

If convicted, Orchard faces a maximum of 30 years in prison for the first count, while the second count carries a sentence of 25 years to life. If he is determined to be not criminally responsible, he could be committed to an institution. 

ccrosby@sunmediagroup.net 

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