Menke found competent to stand trial

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

An Ohio City woman accused of shooting her mother to death and trying to kill her father was found competent to stand trial during a hearing held Friday morning in Van Wert County Common Pleas Court.

Tamara Menke, 48, of Ohio City, sat quietly with her attorney, Scott Gordon, as Judge Charles D. Steele reviewed an evaluation from Court Diagnostic & Treatment Center in Toledo dated February 6, as well as a report from a second evaluation conducted while Menke was a patient at Twin Valley Behavioral Health Center, a state facility operated by the Ohio Department of Mental Health. That report, to decide whether Menke could plead not guilty by reason of insanity, was dated March 14.

Gordon had requested both evaluations on behalf of his client.

Menke, shackled and in an orange Van Wert County Correctional Institution jumpsuit, said nothing as Judge Steele read the conclusions from both reports, which stated that, in the opinion of those evaluating Menke, that she was aware of the proceedings against her and the nature of the charges and was able to assist in her own defense.

Judge Steele then declared Menke competent to stand trial and scheduled a pretrial conference for 11 a.m. Wednesday, April 16, and also set a trial date of May 12 in the case.

Menke is charged with one unspecified count of aggravated murder, which carries with it a possible sentence of life in prison, with parole after 20 years, to life in prison without parole, for killing her mother, Barbara Robinson, on November 14, 2013, at Robinson’s residence at 223 S. Fulton St.

After also shooting her father, John Robinson, Menke fled the Fulton Street home and eluded authorities for 15 hours before being captured without incident on the grounds of her residence in Ohio City at about 10 a.m. the next day.

In addition to the murder charge, Menke faces additional charges of attempted aggravated murder, a first-degree felony; felonious assault, a felony of the second degree; aggravated burglary, a first-degree felony; and burglary, a felony of the third degree.

All five charges also carry a firearm specification, noting that a firearm was used in the commission of each crime. The firearm specifications would each add a mandatory one-year prison term to be served on top of any other sentence received.

Menke is currently in jail on a $1 million cash bond set in Van Wert Municipal Court by Judge Jill Leatherman during Menke’s initial appearance in that court.