2008 Wilton murder case plodding on

Thursday, November 5, 2009

By KATHY CLEVELAND

Staff Writer

The Wilton man accused of stabbing his girlfriend to death during a fight last year is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of her violent death and isn’t competent to stand trial, according to a report by the state’s chief forensics officer.

Benjamin L. Duling, 36, faces two counts of second-degree murder in the death of Shelly McGrade, 35.

A competency hearing in Hillsborough County Superior Court to discuss Dr. James Adams’ report is scheduled for Jan. 7, according Edward Cross Jr., Duling’s public defender. At least two other competency hearings have been scheduled and then postponed, the most recent of which was set for Oct. 26.

Adams, the state’s chief forensics examiner, who died in July, said in his report that Duling cries every time he talks about the death of his girlfriend, won’t discuss the substance of the case and can’t cooperate with his lawyer, according to an article in the Lowell (Mass.) Sun.

According to the Sun, Adams decided on the basis of the two examinations that Duling should be moved from Valley Street Jail in Manchester, where he is being held without bail, to a secure psychiatric facility.

Adams died in a drowning accident in July in North Carolina.

The reports on the two psychiatric examinations are now sealed by a protective order because they deal with mental health issues, Cross said.

Police were called to 32 Duling Lane, off Abbot Hill Road, around 7:54 p.m. April 18, 2008. Duling was found on the lawn of a neighbor’s house around 8 p.m., “kicking and screaming” and repeatedly saying, “Oh, my god! Oh, my god!” His right hand was wrapped in a towel, according to a state police affidavit.

When a police officer asked Duling what happened, he said he had “a fight with a knife” and, “We were supposed to leave for London tomorrow, but she didn’t want to go.”

Police found McGrade’s body slumped forward in a seated position behind the kitchen counter of the couple’s house with a puncture wound in her back and a kitchen knife in her hand.

The couple lived in the large, three-bedroom house with four children, including two teenagers McGrade had with her ex-husband. The couples’ 5-year-old boy and 2-year-old girl were in the house when their mother died.

A neighbor told police that Duling cried out for “his babies,” pounded his head on the ground in anguish and repeatedly said, “Life should not be so hard.”

Duling pleaded not guilty in July 2008. If convicted, he faces life in prison.

Duling and McGrade worked as student database administrators for the Lowell (Mass.) School District.