STATESBORO, Ga. (Court TV) — A Georgia judge has found a man competent to stand trial on murder charges despite the fact that the defendant removed his own eyes.
Robert Keller is seen in booking photos before and after removing his eyes. (Bulloch County Sheriff’s Office)
Robert Keller faces 10 charges, including malice murder, felony murder and armed robbery in the death of Bruce Dupree, who was stabbed to death on Oct. 14, 2024. In a 2024 indictment, prosecutors alleged that he stabbed the victim in the neck before stealing his vehicle and cell phone.
Keller’s defense had argued he was insane at the time of the alleged murder, but two doctors who testified at a recent competency hearing both found him to be sane. The doctors evaluated him separately on the issues of criminal responsibility and competency to stand trial.
The doctors, in their testimony, acknowledged that Keller removed both of his own eyeballs after his arrest and also bit off a portion of his own tongue. Dr. Jeremy Gay, who evaluated Keller for criminal responsibility, found the acts of self-harm not to be relevant because they happened after the murder.
Dr. Daniel Fass, in evaluating Keller for his competency to stand trial, described the defendant during the interview as “cooperative, polite, apathetic, depressed and hopeless” but without symptoms of a “severe, persistent mental illness.” Fass suggested that Keller’s behaviors were the result of a “guilt and/or shame response.”
Two corrections officers testified at the hearing that “the Defendant told them he wanted to go to a medical prison, he was not mental, and that he said he heard voices to cover his ass.”
No trial date has been scheduled.
