MOUNTAIN GATE, Calif. (AP) — A Northern California man charged with hacking two men to death with an ax used to split logs has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
Thirty-five-year-old Thomas McDonald entered the plea in Shasta County Superior Court through his attorney on Tuesday.
The Record Searchlight of Redding reports that the judge appointed a psychologist to evaluate him.
McDonald is facing first-degree murder, aggravated mayhem and other charges in the February 2012 attack on 54-year-old Karl Bradshaw and 84-year-old Ralph Gearhart Torborg in the town of Mountain Gate.
Authorities say McDonald randomly attacked the two men with a splitting maul after a disturbance at his house.
