Husband charged with killing wife not fit for trial

Gervais’ case was continued for a month to give examiners time to assess his condition

TORRINGTON — The attorney for a 77-yearold Connecticut man charged with beating his wife to death with a steel rod in 2017 claims his client is now unfit to stand trial.

Daniel Gervais’ competency was restored last year after he was initially determined incompetent to assist with his own defense. The Republican-American reports that Gervais’ case was continued for a month Wednesday to give examiners time to assess his condition.

Gervais is charged with murder in the killing of 79-year Phyllis Gervais at the couple’s Torrington home on April 22, 2017. Police said Daniel Gervais called 911 in the early morning hours and said his wife had fallen sometime during the night.

An excessive amount of blood found at the scene, however, helped police determine she had not just fallen, according to the arrest warrant affidavit. Most of the blood had already dried by the time first responders arrived on scene at Cider Mill Crossing. In all, police collected 57 separate pieces of evidence at the scene, including bloody clothing from a laundry basket, sponges, washcloths and a 24-inch steel rod with blood on it found on a shelf in the garage.

Detectives determined that someone had attempted to clean up blood near the body. Gervais was also charged with tampering with physical evidence.

Deputy Medical Examiner Maura DeJoseph determined the injuries Phyllis Gervais sustained were from the blunt impact from at least three strikes of a weapon. DeJoseph ruled Phyllis Gervais’ death a homicide, according to the affidavit.

Prosecutor David Shepack didn’t object to a second competency review this week, but alleges Gervais has a “significant” history of faking

illness.

He was found incompetent to participate in his own defense Sept. 12, when a clinical team with the Office of Forensic Evaluations, a subgroup of the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, concluded Gervais “displayed significant deficits that interfered with his ability to learn, retain, or apply information that was presented to him” during an evaluation.

He was sent to the Whiting Forensic Division of the Connecticut Valley Hospital in Middletown. Gervais complained of short-and-long-term memory loss while being evaluated at the facility, but demonstrated an ability to recall information from both the relatively-distant past and the near-term, officials said.

On Nov. 14, 2017, he was ruled competent to stand trial, paving the way for a probable cause hearing. In January, Gervais waived his right to such a hearing and pleaded not guilty to the charges.