A Lake Charles man accused of murder was declared mentally competent to stand trial.

Mark Wayne Thibodeaux, 53, is charged with two counts of second-degree murder and one count of attempted second-degree murder in relation to a Jan. 4, 2012, incident on Prater Street that left Carla Ledoux, 25, and Bridgette Pryor, 50, dead. Both reportedly had multiple stab wounds.

Judge Wilford Carter ruled Thibodeaux competent after psychiatrists Dr. James Anderson and Dr. Garrett Ryder agreed the defendant was sane.

Ryder met with Thibodeaux on March 13 and Anderson met with him March 12. Ryder said Thibodeaux was “slightly paranoid” but generally answered his questions appropriately. Anderson said Thibodeaux told him he suffered from amnesia.

“I just don’t remember what happened,” Thibodeaux told Anderson.

Anderson said Thibodeaux claimed to have auditory and visual hallucinations, but the doctor said he did not believe them to be real because Thibodeaux was not specific in his descriptions.

“If you’re seeing things, you can describe what you’re seeing,” the psychiatrist said. “You don’t describe them as ‘things.’ ”

Anderson said Thibodeaux answered questions “coherently and in context.”

Prosecutors also filed a motion to take a DNA swab from Thibodeaux, who has a trial date of Nov. 26. He is being held in the Calcasieu Correctional Center on $1.25 million bond.

(mgnonline.com)