Judge: Sun Drop murders suspect may not be fit for trial, orders an evaluation
The suspect in the killings of two people at the old Sun Drop Bottling Co. plant in Concord in 2008 must undergo a psychiatric evaluation because his ability to stand trial “is in question,” a judge ruled this week.
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Johnny Steven Talbert must undergo the evaluation at the Butner campus of Central Regional Hospital, Judge Martin McGee ordered during a hearing in Cabarrus County Superior Court Tuesday.
In May, Concord police obtained an arrest warrant for Talbert, a 46-year-old longtime resident of Port Angeles, Washington. He was arrested by local police and taken into custody without incident.
Talbert is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of armed robbery in connection with the killings of 59-year-old Donna Barnhardt and 44-year-old Darrell Noles.
Barnhardt was the longtime office manager at the more than century-old, family-run plant. Noles was applying for a job.
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Cynthia Everson, Talbert’s defense lawyer, filed the motion questioning his ability to proceed to trial. She requested the evaluation, court records show.
Talbert “has a lengthy mental health history spanning multiple states and has been found incapable to proceed on multiple occasions,” according to Everson’s motion.
He “has been difficult to communicate with and is scattered with his thoughts and words,” Everson wrote, saying she believes Talbert is incapable “of assisting in his defense.”
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