Killer Glen Race may undergo mental-health test

The lawyer for a Halifax man who was extradited from the United States to face two murder charges says he's expecting his client will have to undergo a mental assessment.

Glen Race will be arraigned Wednesday in Bridgewater provincial court on first-degree murder in the deaths of Michael Knott and Trevor Brewster more than three years ago.

Knott's body was found on a wooded path in southwestern Nova Scotia on May 5, 2007. Four days later, Brewster's body was found under a boardwalk at a lake in Halifax.

Race's lawyer, Joel Pink, says he expects that psychiatrists will be asked to determine whether Race who has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia understands the proceedings before him.

"I will need to leave that up to the doctors," Pink said in an interview Tuesday. "I think he will have to go for a [mental] fitness hearing."

Pink said he expects that psychiatrists will be asked to assess his client's mental illness leading up to the events in May 2007.

Race was returned to Canada on Friday from the U.S., where he has been serving a life sentence for the May 10, 2007, murder of Darcy Manor, of Mooers, N.Y.

Glen Race's mother, Donna, said she's hopeful the court proceedings will assist the families of Knott and Brewster.

"It's about finding closure for the other families, who are in our prayers and thoughts continuously," she said.

She said she and her husband will attend the hearings and hope to visit their son.

"We want the best for our son, and we want to be sure he's going to be in good hands We do love him and support him."

When Race went to court for his U.S. trial, he sometimes appeared dishevelled anddisoriented.At times he had a spit guard wrapped around his mouth.

Pink said when he visited Race on Sunday he was impressed by the improvement in his client's appearance, saying he looks like "a clean cut, young man."

A spokeswoman for the province's Public Prosecution Service said Race will be returned to the U.S. to serve his sentence when the Canadian proceedings are over.

Chris Hansen also said the Crown will request that proceedings be moved to Halifax.