ABINGDON, Va. — Further psychiatric tests are set to end next month for James Jordan, the Massachusetts man charged with murdering one person and injuring another in an attack on the Appalachian Trail in our region.
The prosecution of Jordan was put on hold after a federal judge in Abingdon, Virginia found that initial evaluations indicate he suffers from a mental disease or defect.
The judge ordered further testing of Jordan, which is expected to end January 28th with a report coming two weeks later.
The incident happened in May in Wythe County. Authorities say Jordan stabbed Ronald Sanchez Jr., an Iraq war veteran from Oklahoma, to death and wounded a female hiker.
A month earlier, authorities said he was accused of threatening hikers on the trail in Unicoi County. He was detained, but then released on probation.
