photo by: Douglas County Sheriff's Office

Chad Marek

A Lawrence man accused of murdering his wife last spring and who has been deemed incompetent for trial is 169th on the waiting list for a bed at Larned State Hospital, according to the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office.

Chad Joseph Marek, 27, of Lawrence, is charged with first-degree murder for allegedly killing Regan N. Marek, 25, on May 16. Police said that Chad Marek told a 911 dispatcher that “God told him to kill her.”

In June, Marek was declared incompetent to stand trial and was ordered to spend time at Larned State Hospital for mental rehabilitation.

During a status conference on Tuesday in Douglas County District Court, Deputy District Attorney Joshua Seiden said that Marek may be waiting for a while.

“Mr. Marek is number 169 in priority for a bed at Larned,” Seiden said.

Marek’s defense attorney, John Kerns, said that he tried to coordinate with the state hospital to set up mobile competency treatment at the Douglas County Jail, but Marek did not qualify for the service. Kerns did not say why he didn’t qualify, but he requested that the case be continued until Marek could go to the state hospital, and Seiden agreed.

photo by: Contributed

This photo of Regan Gibbs was shared by her family.

Judge Stacey Donovan set another status conference for Jan. 31, 2023, and told Marek that he was on a long waiting list.

Marek appeared in court Tuesday via Zoom from the jail and said, “Thank you, your honor. God bless.”

As previously reported by the Journal-World, Marek is alleged to have killed Regan N. Marek, a former University of Kansas soccer player, on May 16 in the 2500 block of West Sixth Street, where the two lived. He was arrested that night.

Before he was charged in the murder case, Marek appeared frequently in downtown Lawrence evangelizing with a bullhorn and playing keyboard and guitar. He has posted videos online decrying COVID-19 vaccines as the “spirit of the Anti-Christ” and saying “Wake up Lawrence, they are coming for your children. The LGBTQ agenda is coming for your children.”

Regan’s family held a news conference in May, and her mother, Kristin Gibbs, said Chad Marek had manipulated Regan into a relationship using religion. She said that he was overbearing and prevented Regan from communicating with the family.

Lawrence Police Chief Rich Lockhart said in a news conference after the killing that it wasn’t clear how Regan died but that her body had received a lot of trauma. Regan’s autopsy report has been sealed.

As reported by the Journal-World, Marek has a history of domestic battery convictions in Leavenworth County between 2013 and 2019. In those cases he also faced questions about his competency to stand trial and spent a few months in Larned State Hospital in 2014 and was eventually deemed competent.

He is currently being held at the Douglas County Jail on a $1 million cash or surety bond.

In May of this year, the ACLU of Kansas and others filed a federal lawsuit alleging that long wait times at Larned were unconstitutional and were causing mental and physical harm to incarcerated individuals. The suit noted that defendants were frequently waiting around a year in jail for an evaluation to determine if they were fit to stand trial. And people already determined unfit — like Marek — were also experiencing long wait times to get into Larned to receive treatment that might render them fit for trial.

The state hospital has been running at reduced capacity for some time, largely due to staffing issues.