RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (Jan 14, 1997 6:18 p.m. EST) - A former teacher who is accused of murdering and eating a teenager in 1979 will undergo more psychological tests before a judge will make his decision on the man's eligibility for release from a state psychiatric hospital.
At a hearing in Suffolk County Court, lawyers for 55-year-old Albert Fentress asked that their client undergo psychological testing by an independent psychologist before testimony is heard at a retention hearing.
Judge John Vaughn ordered the testing and adjourned the case until March 11 when state officials will request his retention for two more years.
Fentress was expected to argue that he was ready to be freed after 16 years of psychiatric treatment.
Prosecutors said Fentress, who taught history and social studies at an intermediate school in Poughkeepsie, New York, for 14 years, killed 18-year-old Paul Masters in 1979, dismembered him and then cooked and devoured his body parts.
A year later, Fentress was found unfit to stand trial by reason of insanity. Since then, he has been treated in three state psychiatric institutions.
His requests for freedom have been turned down repeatedly by state officials. Doctors said Fentress was not ready to be released, according to a spokesman for the state Office of Mental Health in Albany, New York.
Fentress' father, Albert Fentress Sr. of Melville, New York has said he believed his son was ready to be freed, although the younger Fentress once told authorities it was fear of his father that made him insane and caused him to kill Masters.
Fentress testified at an earlier court proceeding that his father once threatened to castrate him.