A man accused of fatally shooting a UPS driver in a Wal-Mart parking lot this month told a judge Monday that he believes the person he killed is Donald Trump.
Justin Barkley, 38, attempted to plead guilty to second-degree murder and menacing a police officer at a hearing held in a central New York courthouse Monday in connection to the Dec. 8 slaying of William Schumacher, 52, outside an Ithaca Wal-Mart.
Tompkins County Court Judge John Rowley rejected his plea, however, after Mr. Barkley insisted during the hearing that the man he shot and killed was none other than the president-elect.
“I shot and killed Donald Trump purposely, intentionally and very proudly,” he told the court, according to the Ithaca Voice.
“I went there to purposely shoot and kill him and put him down,” he added.
Schumacher’s family sat behind Mr. Barkley in tears as he told the court that he had killed Mr. Trump, the Voice reported.
Investigators say the 52-year-old UPS driver had stopped to purchase something to eat from an Ithaca Wal-Mart just before 1 a.m. on the morning of Dec. 8 when he was abruptly shot in the chest by Mr. Barkley in the parking lot. Mr. Barkley fled the scene in an automobile moments later and led officers on a chase to his home in the nearby town of Dryden before firing off a warning shot from his rifle and engaging in an hourslong standoff with police, according to a two-count indictment unsealed last week.
Mr. Barkley admitted pulling the trigger in a subsequent interview with investigators, and said he had “intentionally driven over the body of the victim and spun his tires” before leading police on a pursuit, according to police documents. Authorities said previously that the men did not know one another.
In lieu of accepting his guilty plea Monday, Judge Rowley ordered Mr. Berkley to submit to a psychiatric evaluation before court proceedings continue further.
“The judge would not accept his plea of guilty and instead ordered him to a 730 examination — an order directing psychiatrists to determine whether the defendant is capable of standing trial,” his attorney, James Baker, told the New York Daily News.
The judge insisted on ordering the defendant to undergo testing because he “felt uncomfortable taking his plea without having the examination done first,” the attorney said.
“If the judge decides to move forward, he would complete the arraignment and depending what the plea is, it might be resolved or it might go to trial,” he added.
Mr. Barkley, a former social worker, is expected to appear back in court on Jan. 6, but his attorney said it may take another month before the court-ordered evaluation is complete. He faces a maximum of 25 years in state prison if convicted of both felony counts.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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