Hearing delayed for elderly man charged with murder

Published 2:40 pm Tuesday, November 27, 2012

By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

An 86-year-old Pelham man charged with stabbing his wife in Pelham’s Ballantrae neighborhood in 2010 is set to appear in the Shelby County Circuit Court on April 29, 2013, according to court documents.

Proctor

William Virgil Proctor originally was scheduled to appear for a court hearing on Nov. 26, but his status hearing was continued until next year.

Proctor was arrested on May 14, 2010 and charged with stabbing and killing his 77-year-old wife, Gwendolyn Elizabeth Tuggle Proctor, while she slept at the couple’s house in the 1300 block of Calliston Way.

In January 2012, Shelby County Circuit Court Judge Dan Reeves ordered Proctor to undergo a psychiatric evaluation at the request of the suspect’s attorneys, Barry and Lara Alvis.

A status hearing gives the judge, the defendant and the prosecution a chance to discuss the case and ask any questions they have of police or the judge.

Shelby County Circuit Court Supervisor Jill Smitherman previously said no trail date will be set for Proctor until after the psychiatric evaluations are back, and said the time necessary to complete psychiatric evaluations varies on a case-by-case basis.