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PLATTSBURGH — Double-murder suspect Anthony "Tony" Pavone has been found competent to stand trial.
News of the 52-year-old's psychiatric exam was revealed Friday morning during a brief conference before Clinton County Court Judge Patrick McGill.
GRAND JURY
District Attorney Andrew Wylie said the next step in the case is to present evidence to a grand jury, which will likely happen within the next three weeks.
Wylie said prosecutors are waiting for State Police forensic-test results before further court action is taken.
Pavone, a retired correction sergeant, is the prime suspect in the slayings of Timothy Carter, 52, of Dannemora and Plattsburgh mother Patricia Howard, whom Pavone used to date.
Authorities believe Pavone showed up at Carter's Chazy Lake home early Jan. 31 and would not leave the property.
Howard, a 43-year-old dental hygienist, called State Police to report the trespass.
When troopers arrived — within a half hour — they found signs of forced entry and the couple slain inside.
Carter and Howard were on their second date, celebrating Howard's birthday when they were murdered.
After the shooting, Pavone fled the area, prompting a massive international search.
He was taken into custody six days later after a four-hour standoff at a motel in Kirkland, near Binghamton.
A handgun was recovered from Pavone's motel room, and police sent it for testing to determine whether it is the murder weapon.
INDICTMENT
When he returned to the area, an emotional Pavone tried to plead guilty to second-degree murder charges but could not do so because to the legal restrictions of initial felony arraignments.
Wylie said on Friday that Pavone will be able to plead guilty, if he chooses to, if and when an indictment is returned against him.
By law, he cannot plead guilty before than.
Before Pavone was escorted back to Clinton County Jail, where he has been held without bail, McGill scheduled the next proceeding for March 24, though that date could change if grand-jury action is under way.
PLEA FROM DAUGHTER
Howard's oldest daughter, Sarah, who attended the hearing along with members of Carter's family, recently told the Press-Republican that she will continue to fight for justice "in honor of my mother and Tim."
But, she said, the idea of a trial "kills me to think that my little sister will have to learn the gruesome details of my mother's murder all because a man cannot admit to what he did.
"If I had one thing to say to (Tony), I would say: 'If you have one ounce of sympathy, admit to what you did and let us have closure.'"
FOIL DENIED
Authorities are continuing to investigate the murders and have not released any further details.
State Police administrators in Albany recently denied the Press-Republican's Freedom of Information Law request to obtain a copy of Howard's taped call to police, saying its release "would interfere with a law-enforcement investigation" that is ongoing.
E-mail Andrea VanValkenburg at: avanvalkenburg@pressrepublican.com
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