SIDNEY, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska Panhandle man who is accused of killing his girlfriend has been found incompetent to stand trial.

 

Cheyenne County Attorney Paul Schaub says Judge Derek Weimer made the ruling on Thursday. The judge had reviewed a report from the state psychiatric hospital in Lincoln.

In January not-guilty pleas were entered for 46-year-old Craig Johnson to charges of second-degree murder and use of a weapon to commit a felony.

Johnson is accused of killing 42-year-old April Smith in December at the home they shared eight miles west of Sidney.

Schaub says the judge determined there’s a “substantial probability” Johnson may be competent in the foreseeable future and ordered Johnson back to Lincoln for treatment. A review hearing is scheduled for Aug. 12.