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MORGAN COUNTY (WHNT) — A Morgan County judge has ruled that one of the two men charged with killing seven people in Valhermoso Springs, is mentally competent to stand trial.

The judge’s ruling says 24-year-old Frederic Rogers can stand trial, but no trial date has been set.

Rogers and another man, John Legg, are accused of killing seven people at a home in Valhermoso Springs in June 2020. According to investigators, the pair and others in the home were part of a motorcycle club — The 7 Deadly Sins — but had a falling out. Investigators reported Rogers spoke to them after their arrests, but Legg did not.

The killings took place at a home on Talucah Drive, where seven people were found shot to death. The victims were William Zane Hodgin, 18; Jeramy Roberts, 31; James Benford, 22; Roger Jones Jr., 19; Emily Payne, 21; Tammy England Muzzey, 45; and Dakota Green, 17.

The court’s decision on Rogers’ competence followed a defense request for a mental health examination. In a court filing earlier this year, the defense said Rogers may have been severely delusional at the time of the killings, that he appeared to suffer from undiagnosed illnesses and didn’t appear to understand the gravity of the case he was facing.

Mental competency in a criminal case differs from the insanity defense. The insanity defense is about whether the defendant was capable of understanding right from wrong and the nature of his actions at the time of the crime. Competency is focused on the defendant’s ability to understand the ongoing proceedings he is a part of and if he can assist in his own defense.

Investigators have called this the worst murder case in the history of Morgan County.

In Friday’s ruling, Morgan County Circuit Judge Stephen Brown said he accepts and adopts the findings of the evaluations.  The evaluations were presented at a hearing on Aug. 1, records show.

In Alabama, a competency hearing can include a jury if the defendant requests one, but in this case, records show that no jury was asked for.

Legg is set for a competency hearing on Oct. 24. In his lawyers’ request for a mental health review, they have argued Legg has been hospitalized multiple times for PTSD and severe depression.

Legg has also been charged with attempting to escape from the Morgan County jail back in June. Investigators say he had an accomplice in the alleged effort, but it was not Frederic Rogers.