JOLIET – A third psychiatrist will determine whether a man accused of stabbing his mother and dumping her body in the Des Plaines River should stand trial.
Judge Gerald Kinney on Tuesday approved a visit between Charles "C.J." McCullum, 22, and another expert at the county jail. McCullum is being held on $5 million bond on murder charges in the death of Jeanie Parker, 54, last spring.
Reports submitted by prosecutors and defense attorneys differ whether McCullum is able to understand he is facing charges in court, or is able to work with his lawyers. Attorneys Kristine Honiotes and George Lenard, working for the public defender's office, asked to let another doctor meet with McCullum, without objection from the prosecutors.
Kinney's order also will allow the doctor to bring a laptop computer into the jail and no time limit has been placed on the visit.
Authorities said McCullum and Parker argued in their Fifth Avenue home on March 20, 2013, before he choked her until she passed out. He then left the house, brought back a knife and stabbed her. When that blade bent, McCullum allegedly got a second knife and used a baseball bat to hammer on it until the handle broke. He then allegedly drove to Bluff Park and threw her body in the water where it remained submerged for three weeks.
McCullum also likely will face a sanity hearing to determine whether he understood his actions when his mother was killed. Prosecutors said those psychiatric evaluations will be part of the trial process.