PARIS – The state has filed a memorandum supporting its case for murder suspect Christian C. Nielsen to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.

Nielsen’s defense attorney Ron Hoffman of Rumford had not filed a memorandum as of Wednesday afternoon, and has until Friday to do so. The defense has objected to the motion.

Justice Robert Crowley will make a ruling Oct. 18 in Cumberland County Superior Court in Portland, where Nielsen will be arraigned that day.

Nielsen, 31, has been indicted on four murder charges stemming from the Labor Day weekend shooting deaths of four people connected to the Black Bear Bed & Breakfast on Sunday River Road in Newry where he was living.

Nielsen is charged with killing James Whitehurst, 50, of Batesville, Ark., a guest at the inn, on Sept. 1 in Upton; inn owner Julie Bullard, 65, on Sept. 3 at the inn; and Bullard’s daughter, Selby, 30, of Newry, and her friend, Cynthia Beatson, 43, of Bethel, on Sept. 4 at the inn when they came to check on Julie, according to a Maine State Police affidavit.

The dismembered bodies of the three women were found outside the inn on Labor Day, Sept. 4, where Nielsen was taken into custody shortly after his stepmother called state police. She reported seeing one of the bodies and said Nielsen’s father, Charles, of Woodstock, said Christian told him he had killed four people, according to the affidavit.

Whitehurst’s burned body was found buried in woods off Campbell Brook Road in Upton on Sept. 5.

State Police Detective Terrance James wrote in an affidavit that Nielsen confessed to intentionally killing all four.

Police have not revealed a motive for the slayings.

William Stokes, chief of the Maine Attorney General’s criminal division, said previously that Hoffman may use an insanity defense.

The prosecution wants to “cover its bases,” he said.

“The defendant’s state of mind at the time of the offenses is likely to be a critical issue at the time of the trial,” Assistant Attorney General Andrew Benson wrote in his memorandum.

Benson wrote that Hoffman objects because it may interfere with his own mental exam of Nielsen and violates Nielsen’s constitutional privilege against self incrimination and due process.

However, according to the prosecution’s memorandum, that argument is “legally without support.”

According to Benson’s memo, the defense has hired psychological expert Charles Robinson of Manchester to evaluate Nielsen.

Hoffman could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Reached by phone Wednesday evening, Robinson also would not comment on the case. According to visitation records at the Cumberland County Jail where Nielsen is incarcerated, the only people to visit him have been family members. He was moved from Oxford County Jail after officers there reported he assaulted another inmate for no apparent reason.

The state argues that courts emphasize the need for a fair balance in the interests of the state and the individual.

“Whereas here there is a reasonable likelihood that the defendant may seek the introduction of expert testimony concerning his mental condition at the time of the offenses, the State should be given the opportunity for an unfettered mental exam at the earliest moment possible,” the memo reads.

The memo also states that the state is entitled to conduct a mental exam of the defendant, as is “clearly stated” under Maine law.

Also, Benson wrote that statements made during a mental exam are not admissible at trial on the issue of guilt. The court can order that the exam be impounded and only released to the state, if requested by involved parties.