Competency evaluation ordered in homicide case
A man charged in the fatal stabbing of a Walled Lake resident late last month will undergo a psychiatric evaluation, a district judge has ruled.
Joseph Birckelbaw, 45, will undergo the assessment at the state’s Center for Forensic Psychiatry, as ordered by 52-1 District Judge Robert Bondy. The evaluation was requested on behalf of Birckelbaw during a Jan. 13 probable cause conference.
Birckelbaw is accused of killing Todd Lee Hall, 50, who died Dec. 31. He had been stabbed on the evening of Dec. 30 at his home on Dover Hill Road in Walled Lake.
Birckelbaw has been described as his roommate and friend. A court hearing to review the psychiatric evaluation is scheduled for Mar. 17.