Minnesota Man Found Fit To Stand Trial in Mom’s Death

ST. PAUL (AP) - A Ramsey County judge will try a man previously considered too mentally ill to stand trial on accusations he strangled his mother and then set fire to their St. Paul home.

According to a criminal complaint, Michael Ray Caldwell argued with his mother about insurance money, strangled her and then set the fire with lighter fluid. She was found Sept. 6, 2012, a day after she brought him back from a mental hospital in Missouri.

A judge will preside over a "stipulated facts" trial, in which both sides agree to facts in evidence. No witnesses are called to testify.

The judge will present his verdict Sept. 17. If he decides Caldwell committed the crime, he must then decide whether he was mentally ill.