Butler County woman accused of fatally shooting husband found incompetent

Pamela Harville, 65, ordered to undergo treatment to take part in her defense in Reily Twp. shooting.

Credit: Nick Graham

Credit: Nick Graham

A Butler County woman accused of shooting and killing her husband last month has been declared incompetent to stand trial.

Pamela S. Harville, 65, is charged with aggravated murder and two alternate counts of murder in the shooting death of her husband, David, on April 2 in their home on Millville-Oxford Road in Reily Twp. She also is charged with two counts of felonious assault.

At her arraignment in Butler County Common Pleas Court, defense attorney Dan Allnutt questioned Harville’s competency to stand trial and entered a not guilty by reason of insanity plea.

On Tuesday, Butler County Common Pleas Judge Dan Haughey declared her incompetent but restorable based on a forensic evaluation by psychologist Carla Dreyer, stating Harville “lacks the present capacity to understand the nature of the proceedings against her and and to presently assist in the defense.”

The insanity claim was not part of the current evaluation.

The judge ordered Harville to undergo treatment at Summit Behavioral Health in Cincinnati. A competency re-evaluation has been scheduled for Nov. 12. No bond has been set due to the insanity plea.

Butler County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Harville about five hours after they found her husband dead at about 8:40 p.m. He had been shot multiple times in the body and head, court records and officials said.

Law enforcement initially came to the Harville house after someone had requested a welfare check because they had not heard from the Harvilles “for a while.”

According to records and officials, when deputies looked through a glass door at the rear of the residence, they saw “a lot of blood” and a person down and unresponsive.

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