By Jonece Dunigan
The Decatur Daily
MOULTON, Ala. — Attorneys representing a Trinity woman facing capital murder and arson charges will spend the next couple of months gathering evidence regarding the suspect’s mental competence at the time of the incident.
Susie Ella Stovall, 59, is accused of setting the November house fire that killed her husband, Azrel “Gene” Stovall, 66. She entered a dual plea of not guilty and not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect to capital murder, first-degree arson and second-degree arson charges Thursday during her arraignment in Lawrence County Circuit Court.
A plea of not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect means that at the time the offense was committed, the defendant was unable to appreciate the nature or wrongfulness of her acts.
Judge Mark Craig set a tentative trial date for Feb. 27 or March 6, 2017.
Stovall’s attorneys, Chris Malcom and John Kimbrough, of Moulton, said she has a history of mental health issues. Malcom said it could take 30 days to gather files from mental health facilities. The defense then plans to file motions for expert assistance and mental evaluations.
“At this point, it’s not that we’re asserting we have enough evidence to prove it. There’s information we need to explore and look at,” Malcom said. “In a case like this, you don’t take any chances. If there’s any indication early on that there might be a question or an issue, then you go ahead and make the plea.”
Law enforcement officials said Susie Stovall became a suspect early in the investigation because of a domestic disturbance call deputies received about 30 minutes before the blaze. She was found in the front yard when deputies responded to the fire, the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office said. She was arrested at the scene for a failure-to-appear warrant from a Sept. 3, 2014, incident.
District Attorney Errek Jett said the arraignment was the beginning of a lengthy process because there is a lot of evidence to dig through. He still is waiting on the autopsy report from the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences for Azrel Stovall’s body, which was found in a bedroom of the couple’s home at 20359 Alabama 20, Trinity, after the Nov. 25 fire.
State Deputy Fire Marshal Phillip Freeman said during a preliminary hearing in February that samples from the home and Susie Stovall’s clothing tested positive for gasoline. He also mentioned a series of 911 phone calls in which Azrel Stovall accused his wife of making threats to burn down the house.
In a third phone call, Freeman testified Azrel Stovall said, “She’s setting the house on fire. She’s setting the house on fire. Oh my God, she’s going to burn me up!”
Along with the trial date, Craig also scheduled a pretrial hearing in December to handle any motions the defense might file. Jett said he anticipates the mental evaluations will be conducted by that time.
Jett said the last capital murder case he handled took three years from the time of the offense to get to trial.
“I would love to have a trial before then, but that’s just one of the factors out of my control,” Jett said.
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