Psychiatric Exam Ordered for Boyfriend Charged With Girlfriend's Death

William Michael Dhondt, who is charged with first-degree murder in connection with the death of Kaitlin Elizabeth Hehir, will now undergo a psychiatric examination to determine if he is competent to stand trial, according to an article in the Observer & Eccentric.

The exam of Dhondt, 28, was requested by his attorney in court on Tuesday, the article states.

Proceedings are being held at the 45A District Court in Berkley because Hehir was an employee of the 47th District Court in Farmington Hills, where judges knew and worked with her.

In addition to being charged with premeditated murder, Dhondt was given a second felony charge Tuesday of dismemberment of a human body, according to the Observer & Eccentric.

He faces life in prison for the murder charge and up to 10 years for the second felony charge.

According to a press release from the Farmington Department of Public Safety, Dhondt was the live-in boyfriend of Hehir, 29.

When officers responded to the home at around 10 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 23, Dhondt told police the last time he saw Hehir was around 12:30 a.m. on Friday, when she dropped him off at home and left to go back to a party. But the woman's friends told officers they had not seen her since she left the party to pick him up from work.

The release indicated that police detained the boyfriend after finding what appeared to be bloody plastic in the home. After the boyfriend told detectives that he and his girlfriend had a verbal argument that turned physical, police obtained a search warrant for the home and found the woman's body.

The judge has postponed Dhondt's preliminary examination originally scheduled for March 12 to May 22 so that the psychiatric exam can be completed, according to the Observer & Eccentric.