STEVENS POINT, Wis. (WSAU) — The man accused of killing his estranged wife and then getting into a standoff with police in Bancroft a month ago was back in court Thursday.
58-year-old Larry Sanchez was before before Judge Thomas Flugaur in Portage County for a competency hearing. District Attorney Louis Molepske Jr. says the court needs to determine if Sanchez is competent to stand trial. He says, “The court asked the defense if Mr. Sanchez claimed to be competent or incompetent. He claimed to be incompetent. The defense then requested the court appoint another doctor to review the defendant. The court denied that.”
Molepske says the Department of Health Services evaluated Sanchez, and their doctor found him competent to stand trial, but since the attorneys and the court had just received that report hours before Thursday’s court appearance and needed time to review the findings, Judge Flugaur postponed his decision on Sanchez’ mental competency until August 3rd.
Sanchez is facing charges of first degree intentional homicide, first degree reckless homicide, homicide by a firearm with a prohibited alcohol concentration, and failure to comply with an officer. His estranged wife Lisa Sanchez was found dead at a neighbor’s house when emergency responders arrived the morning of June 3rd. He has been held in the Portage Couty Jail on a one million dollar cash bond since being taken into custody several hours after the standoff began.
