Lawyer asks for delay in Nielsen murder trial

PORTLAND – A defense lawyer asked Thursday to delay Christian Nielsen’s murder trial, which is due to start in less than two weeks, because Nielsen’s dramatic weight loss is causing his health to deteriorate. But the prosecutor is opposed to delays.

Nielsen continues to refuse to eat and now weighs 106 pounds after losing a third of his body weight, Ron Hoffman said Thursday. The weight loss has been so severe that it’s affecting Nielsen’s ability to think clearly, he said.

“At this point, they believe his cognitive ability is impaired,” Hoffman said.

On Thursday afternoon, a probate judge approved a motion to have Nielsen’s father appointed medical guardian to make decisions on Nielsen’s behalf. The first decision for Charles Nielsen will be whether to order a feeding tube for his son, Hoffman said.

Also Thursday, Hoffman filed a motion in Oxford County Superior Court to delay the trial, currently scheduled to begin Oct. 10.

Assistant Attorney General Andrew Benson said he opposed a delay because a great deal of effort has been made to bring in witnesses for the trial.

“We are in our current predicament because of a choice made by Mr. Nielsen not to eat,” Benson wrote in an e-mail. “There is no guarantee that this won’t happen again if the case is continued,” he added.

Nielsen faces four counts of murder for a rampage over Labor Day weekend in 2006.

He has charged with killing and dismembering three women at the Black Bear Bed & Breakfast in Newry. He is also accused of killing a fourth victim, an Arkansas man who was burned and dismembered miles away near Upton.

Nielsen, 32, was transferred from the Cumberland County Jail to the Riverview Psychiatric Center in Augusta last May after he lost 55 pounds when he cut back on his eating and began exercising compulsively.

He dropped from 158 pounds to 103 pounds before he resumed eating after the sheriff won an order to force-feed him.

A judge who ruled this month that Nielsen was competent to stand trial was told that Nielsen’s weight was being closely monitored.

But his weight recently began dropping again. Hoffman said health officials told him that Nielsen’s body would begin consuming muscle and brain mass to stay alive if his weight dropped below 110 pounds.

Hoffman said he was told Thursday by Nielsen that he doesn’t want to be force-fed. “The question is whether it’s a rational decision,” he said.

Hoffman said he doesn’t know how Nielsen could be expected to travel to court each day and listen to hours of testimony unless his medical issues are resolved.

“It’s pretty stressful [even] for a healthy person,” Hoffman said.

A feeding tube would either be inserted through Nielsen’s nose or surgically implanted in his side, Hoffman said. The feeding tube, and pain medicine, would make communication impossible, he said.