JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Saying he has “reasonable grounds to believe the defendant may be incompetent to proceed,” a judge ordered William Wells to undergo a mental competency evaluation.
Wells, who calls himself the “Mayport Monster” for his notorious mass murder at his Mayport trailer in 2003, is facing fresh charges of killing a fellow inmate at Florida State Prison in July.
Judge Mark Moseley cited prior diagnoses of Wells’ “mental health and neurological issues” and ordered the evaluation to be completed before Dec. 10.
The timetable is accelerated by Wells’ demand for a speedy trial, filed last month. He is also seeking to represent himself in the death penalty case, and wants to waive his right to a trial by jury.
Wells is accused of the brutal July 5 stabbing of Billy Chapman, who was serving time for burglary. In 2003, Wells killed 5 people including his wife, then hid the decomposing bodies (along with his 4-year-old son) inside his Mayport double-wide for more than a week.
The crime earned him five consecutive life sentences.
He drew a sixth life sentence when he attempted to kill an inmate at Miami-Dade Correctional Institution in 2008. He got a seventh life sentence for murdering a fellow inmate at Florida State Prison in 2011.
He now faces death for allegedly strangling and stabbing Chapman in a communal room at the prison. A state employee who saw a video of the attack told First Coast News it was “gruesome. It was like something you see in a horror movie.”
Wells’ alleged accomplice, Leo Boatman, is also a repeat offender. He was previously convicted of murdering two Santa Fe College students with an AK-47 while they were camping in the Ocala National Forest in 2006, and was subsequently convicted of beating a cellmate to death in 2011.
Both men face the death penalty.
In a series of communications with First Coast News, Wells has repeatedly said he wants the death penalty and will continue killing until he gets it.
He noted if prosecutors would only push “fervently for the death penalty, no one else would have had to die."
“I guess my quest for the lethal injection continues, and more time goes by," he added.
State Attorney Bill Cervone has said he will seek the death penalty. Wells is due in court on all the recent motions on Dec. 13.