GRANITE FALLS, Minn. - Lawyers for the Renville man accused of fatally shooting his ex-girlfriend and her boyfriend in September plan to raise a mental-health defense when his trial begins in Yellow Medicine County later this year.
A West Central Tribune report says a judge had no objection Friday to the defense's intention regarding 28-year-old Andrew Dikken.
Dikken sat quietly through the hearing. He didn't acknowledge the dozens of relatives of the victims.
Dikken is accused of killing 26-year-old Kara Monson of Granite Falls and 28-year-old Christopher Panitzke of Redwood Falls. Prosecutors say Monson died at the scene but Panitzke identified the shooter before dying six days later.
Defense attorneys Stephen Ferrazzano and Benjamin Pieh asked District Judge Thomas Van Hon to order a mental-health evaluation. Van Hon approved the request.
