Judge to weigh competency hearing arguments in murder case

The man accused in a 2019 Fourmile Canyon murder had a competency hearing Thursday where attorneys argued whether the defendant was fit enough to stand trial.

Stephen Christopher Wolf, 29, is charged with first-degree murder after deliberation, felony murder, first-degree burglary, seconddegree burglary, tampering with a deceased human body, vehicular eluding and tampering with physical evidence in the death of Jeffrey Michael Lynch, 57.

Wolf was declared incompetent to proceed in September 2021, and ordered to undergo restoration efforts at the Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo before being transferred back to Boulder County Jail.

At a competency hearing Thursday, doctors offered differing opinions on Wolf, with defense saying Wolf suffered from schizophrenia and delusions while prosecutors argued Wolf was manipulating the system to avoid trial and jail.

Defense attorney Mary Claire Mulligan said observations from a doctor and her legal team indicated Wolf was not yet ready to assist in his own defense.

“Mr. Wolf may understand the facts that are charged against him, he may understand that he is in the jail and that the hospital is a nicer place to be,” Mulligan said. “But his understanding rationally about his situation and his rational ability to communicate with this lawyers and be able to consult in terms of relevant and realistic defenses and investigation, that’s where Mr. Wolf’s mental capacity has fallen below the standard of competent to proceed.”

But Boulder Chief Trial Deputy Christian Gardner-wood said other doctors diagnosed Wolf with anti-social personality disorder and said his issues were a conduct disorder, not a matter of mental capacity.