An attorney for the Warren County man accused of killing his brother in January is seeking to have him committed to the state Department of Mental Health (DMH).Scott Van Dillen, 53, was charged with second-degree murder after Timothy Van Dillen, 59, was killed at their home off of Schuetzenground Road. Warren County Sheriff’s Department at the time said an autopsy showed the victim had been struck 11 times, including a blow that caused a fatal skull fracture and brain bleed.Scott Van Dillen was found at the home with blood on his boots, and admitted to kicking his brother multiple times in the head, investigators said.Since being arrested, he has been held at the Warren County Jail on a $250,000, cash-only bond.Defense attorney Ella Boone Conley, with the Missouri Public Defender’s Office, petitioned on Aug. 20 for Van Dillen to be declared incompetent to stand trial. If granted by the court, that would mean the murder charge against Van Dillen is suspended while he is placed in indefinite custody at a Missouri Department of Mental Health (DMH) facility.To declare a defendant unfit to stand trial, a court must determine that because of a “mental disease or defect,” the defendant is unable to understand the proceedings against him or assist in his own defense.Boone Conley, in her court petition, said Van Dillen had been evaluated by a St. Louis-area psychiatrist, Dr. Claudia Viamontes, who found that he meets the standard to be declared unfit for trial. She addaed that she is not seeking any further psychiatric evaluation by DMH staff, rather requesting Van Dillen immediately be transferred to custody at a DMH hospital.The motion to have Van Dillen committed could be ruled on during a Sept. 25 hearing in Warren County Circuit Court. Associate Circuit Judge Richard Scheibe is presiding over the case.

Scott Van Dillen