Jury to decide if murder defendant competent for trial

SANTA ROSA, Calif.

Houston Herczog, 21, is charged with the stabbing murder of 63-year-old Mark Kevin Herczog in the kitchen of their Parkhurst Drive home on Nov. 21. the elder Herczog later died at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.

Two psychologists who examined Herczog since November determined that he was competent to stand trial, but a third psychologist found him incompetent.

Deputy Public Defender Karen Silver asked Sonoma County Superior Court Judge Dana Simonds this morning for a jury trial on the competence issue.

Simonds set a trial date of June 4. Herczog is being held without bail in Sonoma County Jail.

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