Case dismissed for Bellingham man accused of murdering mom, leaving her in Lake Samish
A Bellingham man accused of fatally stabbing his mother, wrapping her in a blanket and leaving her body in Lake Samish in July 2018 will be civilly committed to a state psychiatric facility and the murder case against him has been dismissed.
Matthew Downey Gregory, 33, had his second-degree murder case for the death of his 64-year-old mother, Frances Gregory, dismissed Oct. 26 in Whatcom County Superior Court. Gregory’s case was dismissed without prejudice, meaning the charges in the case could eventually be refiled, court records show.
At the Tuesday hearing, the court found that Gregory was not competent to stand trial, could not assist in his own defense and his mental health is likely not restorable. The court determined that Gregory “was unlikely to regain competency in a reasonable period of time,” court records state.
Gregory’s court case was delayed three years for multiple 90-day periods of inpatient mental health treatment in an attempt to make him competent to stand trial.
Gregory’s then-public defense attorney first raised competency concerns regarding Gregory in early August 2018 after she noticed he had some confusion about his case. An evaluation was performed and Gregory was declared competent to stand trial in late August 2018.
A little more than two months later, in early November, Gregory was declared incompetent to stand trial and was sent to Eastern State Hospital, a state psychiatric hospital southwest of Spokane, in early December for 90 days of mental health treatment.
Gregory was given another competency evaluation and was again declared incompetent to stand trial in late February 2019. He was ordered to complete another 90 days of treatment.
Gregory was declared competent in July 2019, but by August of 2020, Gregory’s defense attorney requested a competency evaluation and in mid-September he was ordered to complete another 90 days of treatment.
In January and February of this year, an order was signed for Gregory to be involuntarily medicated and he was ordered to another 90 days of mental health treatment.
After multiple psychiatric experts evaluated Gregory for both the defense and prosecution, the parties agreed to move forward with a civil commitment to a state psychiatric facility for Gregory.
Gregory will be evaluated and transferred to the facility, where he will remain and receive mental health treatment.
“After careful evaluation, it became clear to me that Mr. Gregory is incompetent to stand trial at this time. (Tuesday’s) ruling should send Mr. Gregory to Western State Hospital for the rest of his life, unless his mental illness is cured. If Mr. Gregory is ever found competent and released, we will be able to prosecute him for these crimes,” Whatcom County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Richey said in a statement sent to The Bellingham Herald. “Surviving family of the victim felt a sense of relief that the court proceedings were over and that Mr. Gregory will not be able to pose a future threat to our community.”
Gregory’s current public defense attorney declined to comment for this story.
