Alton Nolen, accused of beheading a co-worker last year at Vaughan Foods in Moore, is escorted out of District Judge Lori Walkley's courtroom during a recess proceedings Monday to determine his competency to stand trial.

An Oklahoma man who is accused of beheading a co-worker and wounding others is competent to stand trial, according to a judge.

Alton Nolen, 31, is accused of beheading co-worker Colleen Huffed, 54, and nearly beheading a second co-worker, Traci Johnson, 43, who survived, at a food processing plant in the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore. He is also facing four assault and battery charges for threatening or assaulting other co-workers with a 10-inch knife.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Nolen’s case drew national attention last year after the initial attack. The company’s chief operating officer, Mark Vaughan, stopped the brutal attack by shooting Nolen with a rifle he kept in his office. Police lauded Vaughan, a reserve deputy sheriff, as a hero who prevented further mayhem.

Defense attorneys presented evidence during the trial that Nolen was not competent due to mental retardation, which they said prohibited Nolen from providing meaningful assistance in his defense.

District Judge Lori Walkley disagreed.

“The evidence indicated that he was able to graduate from high school, play interscholastic sports, gain admission to and attend college, socialize and communicate effectively, work, make efforts to seek higher employment, undertake religious studies, plan and execute goals and live independently,” Walkley’s summary order states.

District Attorney Greg Mashburn said the judge issued a well-reasoned summary order.

“Obviously, she took all the evidence into consideration in her decision,” Mashburn said.

A preliminary hearing will be set sometime in the near future.

Bruha writes for the Norman, Oklahoma Transcript.