New Bloomfield shelter chainsaw attack suspect sent to Missouri Department of Mental Health

JEFFERSON CITY — A man charged in a chainsaw attack at a homeless shelter in New Bloomfield has been committed to the custody of the Missouri Department of Mental Health.

Callaway County Judge Kevin Crane on Monday committed 30-year-old Matthew J. Watkins for the Jan. 19, 2008, chainsaw attack at the New Life Evangelistic Center in New Bloomfield.

Watkins was charged with injuring four employees with a chainsaw while helping to prepare the New Life Evangelistic Center's annual peace festival.

Watkins was charged with four counts of first-degree felony assault and four counts of felony armed criminal action.

During a pretrial conference hearing Monday, the prosecution agreed to a plea of not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. Crane then ruled Watkins was not guilty of the four criminal charges against him.