The trial of a psychiatric patient accused of killing a fellow patient at a state mental hospital was postponed after the defendant was hospitalized, according to a spokesman for the Howard County state's attorney's office.
El Soundani El-Wahhabi, 51, is charged with murder in the Sept. 25, 2010 death of Susan Sachs, who was found dead in her bed the next morning at Clifton T. Perkins Hospital, where both were patients.
El-Wahhabi's trial was scheduled to begin with jury selection Monday morning. Prosecutors got a call Monday morning that El-Wahhabi was hospitalized, said the spokesman, T. Wayne Kirwan. El-Wahhabi was taken to Howard County General Hospital, but the nature of his illness was not disclosed, Kirwan said.
The trial is expected to start Tuesday if the defendant is well enough, Kirwan said.