A judge set a mental competency hearing for Garrett Whittenburg’s lawyer Aaron Koonce to challenge two psychologists who recently found him mentally competent.
Whittenburg, 41, of Chicago, remains charged as an accomplice in a Nov. 13, 2021, Hammond home invasion where a mother and her daughter, 12, were blindfolded and sexually assaulted.
At first, the woman’s relative, Valentine Torrez, claimed he was just in the home when it happened. Later, when DNA results came back tying him to the assaults, he was charged.
Torrez got 33 years in May after a split verdict.
In the picture that later emerged, authorities alleged Torrez planned the assault with Whittenburg as a pretext to assault the woman and steal her credit cards.
Whittenburg had previously signed a plea deal in May 2023, which required him to testify at Torrez’s trial. However, he stopped cooperating fully with prosecutors at least since March when he refused to testify in a pre-trial deposition for Torrez’s case.
He also did not testify at Torrez’s trial.
On Thursday, Lake Superior Judge Natalie Bokota told Whittenburg that lawyers were withdrawing the plea agreement.
The competency hearing is scheduled for Sept. 30. Whittenburg is charged with nearly a dozen felonies, including rape and criminal confinement.
Deputy Prosecutor Arturo Balcazar is assigned.
mcolias@post-trib.com
