Jury will begin deliberations in Moore beheading trial

— The jury in the beheading trial is expected to begin deliberating Friday over whether murder defendant Alton Alexander Nolen is guilty, not guilty or not guilty by reason of insanity.

Cleveland County District Judge Lori Walkley instructed jurors on Thursday to make arrangements to work into the evening, if necessary, on their verdict.

“Once you start, you’re here,” she said.

Nolen, 33, is charged with first-degree murder and five assault offenses for his Sept. 25, 2014, attack on co-workers at Vaughan Foods in Moore. Nolen, who converted to Islam, admitted to the FBI and Moore police he beheaded one woman and tried to behead another after being suspended at work.

He claims he was following the teachings of the Quran.

Prosecutors on Thursday called two psychologists to rebut a defense expert’s testimony that Nolen was insane at the time of the offense because of mental illness.

The first psychologist, Shawn Roberson, told jurors Thursday he evaluated Nolen in April 2015 and June 2016 at the request of the court. He described Nolen as narcissistic, hostile and controlling, but not mentally ill.

“He didn’t exhibit any signs consistent with a severe mental illness,” said Roberson, who is from Edmond. “He primarily just wants to portray himself as pious and religious and make religious statements.”

The second psychologist, Jarrod Steffan, also testified Nolen is not mentally ill. He said he diagnosed Nolen instead as having a personality disorder with anti-social traits.

Steffan, who is from Wichita, Kansas, read through thousands of documents to come up with his opinion. His review included 15,000 pages from Nolen’s Facebook account. Nolen refused to meet with him.

Steffan told jurors Nolen clearly understood what he was doing when he got a knife from his Moore apartment and came back to the food plant to “get revenge.”

“He knew what he wanted to accomplish,” Steffan said. “He felt he was being mistreated in the workplace and, as he indicated, he had had enough and he was going to pay them back.”

Steffan pointed to a remark made by Nolen after his arrest as proof the defendant was able to distinguish right from wrong. “I don’t think I’ll be getting out no time soon,” Nolen said to the FBI and Moore police three days after the attack.

If Nolen is found not guilty by reason of insanity, he will be sent to a state mental facility in Vinita, possibly for the rest of his life.

If Nolen is found guilty, jurors will hear more evidence and then be asked to decide his punishment. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.