photo by: Douglas County Sheriff's Office

Chad Marek

A Lawrence man accused of murdering his wife swayed from side to side, sometimes appeared to grin and barely spoke as attorneys and a Douglas County judge again discussed his competency to stand trial.

The defendant, Chad Marek, 29, accused of killing 25-year-old Regan (Gibbs) Marek nearly three years ago, appeared via Zoom from the Douglas County Jail. A week ago, Marek had refused to attend a similar hearing.

On Friday, when Judge Stacey Donovan asked him if he understood that he had the right to attend the hearing in person, Marek said, “I don’t know” and “I’m not sure.”

His attorney, John Kerns, then informed Donovan that he had visited Marek the day prior and believed he was not competent to proceed to trial, despite an evaluation from Larned State Hospital that would indicate otherwise.

Kerns asked that a second opinion be rendered on Marek’s mental state, and the state did not object.

“Having a contested competency hearing today probably won’t be fruitful,” Assistant District Attorney Samantha Foster told Donovan.

Donovan asked if Marek had been taking his medications, and Kerns said he did not believe so.

Marek did not speak again at the hearing but just looked into the video camera.

Donovan ordered the parties to reconvene on April 8 to take up the matter again.

Marek was arrested in May 2022 and charged with killing his wife at their Lawrence apartment. Police said at the time that Marek told a dispatcher that God had told him to do it. He spent a year and a half in the Douglas County Jail waiting for a bed to open up at Larned. Eventually he was admitted to Larned, and in May of last year Donovan ordered involuntary commitment proceedings for him after reviewing a forensic evaluation report that said he was “unlikely to become competent in the foreseeable future.”

Marek was returned from Larned to the Douglas County Jail in January.

Generally speaking, competency is determined when a defendant understands the proceedings against him and can assist in his own defense.

photo by: Contributed

This photo of Regan Gibbs was shared by her family.