GREG DERR/The Patriot Ledger
Mark Benoit at his arraignment in Brockton District Court on March 23, 2007. He is charged with killing his wife and daughter at their apartment in Brockton.
By Maureen Boyle Gatehouse News Service
Posted Mar 27, 2008 @ 02:32 PM
BROCKTON —
The Brockton man who authorities allege killed his wife and 9-year-old daughter last year was found incompetent to stand trial today.
Mark V. Benoit of Brockton was sent back to Bridgewater State Hospital after doctors hired by both the state and defense told Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Locke the 43-year-old man was incompetent and unable to assist in his defense.
The decision means Benoit will stay in the state hospital until he is either found competent to stand trial or a ruling is made that he is not criminally responsible in the case.
“It is crystal clear he is not competent,” Benoit’s attorney, Joan Fund, said. “He is not able to assist in his defense.”
Benoit is accused of killing his wife, Cynthia, 41, and daughter, Sarah, who were found dead on March 22, 2007 in their home on the city's south side.
Prosecutors told a judge at his arraignment last year that Benoit told police he strangled both victims.
The bodies of Benoit’s wife and daughter were found in their 112 Nilsson St. apartment after he called 911. He talked to the police department’s civilian dispatcher for 17 minutes as officers rushed to the scene.
Benoit told authorities at the time that he was depressed and had been on the anti-depressant medication Prozac but his prescription ran out and “he snapped.”
A prosecutor, Courtney Cahill, told a judge last year that Benoit told police he killed his wife and daughter because “he didn’t want to leave his daughter alone.”
The family, which had been experiencing financial difficulties, moved from Norwell to Brockton a few months before the murders. Sarah was a student at the Arnone Elementary School in Brockton. An older son stayed in Norwell to finish school.
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