Olson charged, denied bail as The Vine St. Murder case begins

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Posted: Mon 6:34 PM, Jun 25, 2012

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Reporter: Joe Nelson Email

Updated: Mon 11:54 PM, Jun 25, 2012

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Olson charged, denied bail as The Vine St. Murder case begins

EAU CLAIRE, Wisc. (WEAU) - After a two week investigation, the man accused of killing 39-year-old Paul Oberle was charged with murder Monday.

James Eugene Olson, 51, was arrested Friday after being detained for a mental health evaluation.

Monday, he was charged with First Degree Intentional Homicide, which carries a mandatory life sentence if convicted.

By request of the district attorney's office, the judge denied any chance of Olson posting bail.

"Our office was very concerned about the need to protect the community... We asked he be held in custody without bail," Eau Claire County District Attorney Brian Wright said. "The judge has ordered the competancy evaluation... The results of that will have to be considered in terms of how the case can proceed."

Eau Claire psychologist Brian Stress said he's done about 100 mental competency evaluations in the past ten years, a process that he said can be misunderstood by those outside of the legal system.

"You do your interview, you administer the sort of tests you think are appropriate to answer the questions," Stress said. "It's not whether they're guilty or not guilty or found to be not guilty by mental disease or defect; that's all the next process. This is just does the person have the capacity to participate in the judicial proceedings?"

He said there's rarely any debate after the evaluation is ordered, and it can benefit all sides.

"Everybody wants to make sure that justice is pursued."

New details released Monday include that Oberle's phone line was found cut, his sister told police she heard Olson say he'd kill Oberle and that he and Olson had been neighbors since Oberle was a child.

Olson's lawyer declined to comment on the case Monday. His next court date is set for Tuesday.

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