Suspect in Student Deaths to Get Psychiatric Tests

The prime suspect in the slayings of five Gainesville, Fla., college students will undergo psychiatric testing to determine his competency to face robbery and burglary charges, a judge ruled Friday.

Danny Harold Rolling, 37, made his initial court appearance in connection with a Sept. 2 robbery of a Tampa grocery and a subsequent shootout with deputies. He faces additional charges here in three burglaries and the thefts of two cars.

No one has been charged in the five serial killings, but the task force investigating the Gainesville slayings has named Rolling as its prime suspect.

Circuit Judge Harry Lee Coe appointed two psychiatrists to examine Rolling after his public defender questioned his competency to enter a plea.

“Have you ever had any mental problems, Mr. Rolling?” Coe asked.

“Mental problems?” Rolling replied in a halting voice. “I guess we all have a certain amount, huh?”

A hearing on the results of the psychiatric evaluation and to review whether Rolling is competent to enter a plea was set for July 2. He will remain in jail.

Although the Tampa robbery charges against Rolling are not directly related to the student slayings last August, authorities say the car he was driving in Tampa was stolen from a Gainesville student housing complex on Aug. 30, two days after the last two bodies were found.

During the Tampa robbery, Rolling allegedly tried to run over a deputy with the stolen car and then threatened three deputies with a gun before fleeing.

Rolling is accused of breaking into another apartment five days later and stealing the keys to a car. He was captured later that day in the stolen car after the robbery of a supermarket in Ocala, Fla.

A similar psychiatric evaluation was conducted on Rolling to determine his sanity when he pleaded guilty in the supermarket robbery. He was judged to be competent, and sentencing is scheduled for July 30.

The judge could impose a life sentence because Rolling has been convicted of burglaries in three other states, prosecutors said.