BOLIVIA, N.C. — A Brunswick County judge ruled Tuesday that a former Marine accused of fatally shooting three people at a waterfront establishment must receive mental health treatment before his murder trial can move forward.
Nigel Max Edge, 41, was determined by multiple psychiatric experts to be unable to comprehend legal proceedings sufficiently to work with his defense team on the first-degree murder charges he faces.
The court session had been planned for District Attorney Jon David to announce whether prosecutors would pursue capital punishment in the case. However, David explained in a statement that this decision was postponed due to concerns about Edge’s mental fitness for trial.
“The defense has presented evaluations from two experts, and this office requested an independent evaluation by a state forensic examiner,” David stated. “All three evaluations conclude that Mr. Edge currently lacks the capacity to proceed to trial.”
Superior Court Judge Jason Disbrow directed that Edge be sent to Cherry Hospital, a state mental health facility located in Goldsboro, according to David’s announcement.
The prosecutor noted that the state’s psychiatric evaluator determined Edge “may be restored to capacity through appropriate treatment, including medication and counseling.” Attempts to reach Edge’s public defender, Matthew Geoffrion, were unsuccessful.
Law enforcement officials say Edge used a small boat to approach a dockside bar in Southport on September 27 last year, where he allegedly fired a short-barreled semiautomatic weapon. The attack resulted in three deaths and wounded multiple other victims.
The defendant, who faces several additional criminal charges, sustained four gunshot wounds during his military service with an elite sniper team in Iraq, including one to his head. According to relatives and acquaintances, he has received a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder and continues to have a bullet fragment in his brain.
Tuesday’s court order effectively “suspends further litigation unless and until the defendant’s capacity is restored,” David explained, while noting that prosecutors could still pursue the death penalty “should the facts and law warrant this designation.”
Edge will be held in custody throughout his treatment period, which David described as lasting for an “indeterminate” duration.
