Psychiatrist to examine Arizona serial killer
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PHOENIX -- A judge has appointed a Phoenix-area psychiatrist to examine a convicted serial killer who has asked to be executed quickly.
Judge Roland Steinle of Maricopa County Superior Court appointed Dr. Gwen Levitt to conduct a mental-competency examination of Dale Hausner.
He was sentenced to death for six murders that were among random shootings that terrorized the Phoenix area in 2005 and 2006.
Steinle said Levitt will determine whether Hausner is competent to skip further appeals.
A similar review found he was competent to be sentenced.
The Arizona Supreme Court decided Hausner's one automatic appeal by upholding his convictions and sentences.
Hausner didn't acknowledge guilt during his trial, but he said before being sentenced that death should be his penalty to help the surviving victims and victims' relatives heal.
