Matthew Moore, one of Russell’s attorneys from the special defense unit of the office of the state public defender, filed a motion last month, arguing that the pre-trial publicity of the case has tainted the Webster County jury pool.

Russell was arrested on Jan. 20, 2020, after police responded to a report of an altercation at 21 N. 14th St. When police arrived at the home at approximately 9:14 a.m., they found 45-year-old Angela McLeod unresponsive and, after resuscitation efforts by police and emergency medical services, she was pronounced dead.

According to criminal complaints, officers found McLeod lying face down on a bedroom floor at the home with blood on the carpet near a golf club missing its head. The alleged assault started after Russell broke the victim’s cell phone. The defendant and victim knew each other and Russell had reportedly been in a previous relationship with McLeod’s daughter.

Russell’s trial has been delayed many times over the last nearly three years. A competency evaluation for the defendant was ordered three different times since the start of the case.

Jury selection for a trial in Fort Dodge began in August, but a mistrial was declared on the second day after a Webster County judge found probable cause that Russell was suffering from a mental disorder that rendered him incompetent to stand trial.

Mental competency is not a defense to a crime, but a measure of if a defendant can appreciate the charges they are facing, understand the proceedings and effectively assist in their own defense.

After Russell underwent a psychiatric competency evaluation, Webster County District Court Judge Angela Doyle ruled that the evaluation showed that he was not incompetent to stand trial and ordered that he continue to receive treatment to maintain his mental competency for the rest of the trial proceedings.