A kidnapping trial set to start Monday in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City has been postponed because defendant Michael J. Doyel has been found mentally incompetent.
Doyel, who is accused of strangling his ex-girlfriend last year and driving her body to Missouri, was charged in both federal court and Utah's 3rd District Court.
The state charges are first-degree felony murder, obstruction of justice and theft in the slaying of 50-year-old Deborah Jones. The sole charge in the federal prosecution is kidnapping.
Third District Judge Judith Atherton ruled in January that Doyel was mentally incompetent to stand trial and sent him to the Utah State Hospital in an effort to restore his competency. At a review hearing in May, the judge ordered Doyel to remain under treatment for another year, ruling that he still was unable to understand the charges against him and assist his lawyer in his defense.
Based on that ruling, U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups approved a motion by Doyel's defense attorney to cancel the kidnapping trial that was to take place this week.
Doyel and Jones were living together before they broke up in April 2008. Family members said they last heard from Jones, a nurse, on April 18. Police discovered her body inside a storage container in her car April 21 in Branson, Mo.
