KANSAS CITY (AP) — A man charged with killing six people on or near trails in south Kansas City, Missouri, in 2016 and 2017 is now set to stand trial next year.
A judge on Thursday set Fredrick Scott’s first-degree murder trial date for Sept. 6, 2022. Earlier this year, Scott had been found not mentally competent to stand in the separate shooting deaths of 57-year-old Steven Gibbons; 54-year-old John Palmer; 67-year-old David Lenox; 57-year-old Timothy Rice; 61-year-old Michael Darby; and 64-year-old Karen Harmeyer.
All of the killings occurred in 2016 and 2017 along city hiking and biking trails that frightened the community and users of the trails. Scott has been in custody since his arrest nearly four years ago.
Police have said that in the days before his arrest, Scott reported four handguns stolen from him. Police believe those guns were used in the killings and that Scott reported them stolen to throw off investigators.
Police have said Scott told detectives after his arrest that he was angry about the 2015 shooting death of his half brother. Scott’s mother has said he suffered from delusions.