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Slaying Suspect Has New Court Hearing

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By STEPHEN THOMPSON, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 19, 2008

CLEARWATER - A mental competency hearing has been set for Carl Roland, a murder suspect who held authorities at bay for 56 hours two years ago from a perch on a construction crane in Atlanta.

Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge R. Timothy Peters on Friday set the hearing for Feb. 29.

Roland, a 44-year-old one-time software salesman, faces a charge of first-degree murder in the strangulation death of his ex-girlfriend, Jennifer Gonzalez, a 36-year-old mother of two. Her body was found May 24, 2005, in a retention pond behind her apartment building in Oldsmar.

After the slaying, authorities say, Roland fled to Atlanta as investigators pieced together what happened and issued a warrant charging him with first-degree murder. The standoff on the crane between Roland and Atlanta police negotiators took place 350 feet in the air above busy Peachtree Street, and it drew national attention.

Authorities didn't know it was Roland in the standoff until his wallet fell from the crane.

Roland previously had been sent to the state mental hospital in Chattahoochee. A senior psychologist there had determined he was fit to stand trial, Assistant State Attorney Fred Schaub told Peters.

Nora T. McClure, a senior assistant public defender representing Roland, said a different professional who examined him, however, determined he was incompetent to stand trial.

No mental-health experts testified Friday, but they are expected to attend the Feb. 29 hearing before Judge Peters makes a ruling on Roland's mental state.

Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336 or spthompson@tampatrib.com.

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