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Man charged in Council Bluffs killings will get treatment

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December 19th, 2016 by Ric Hanson

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — A man charged with killing his mother and grandmother in Council Bluffs will be sent to a mental health facility after being found mentally incompetent to stand trial. The Des Moines Register reports District Judge Susan Christensen signed an order Friday that will send Michael Dieckmann to treatment at a state prison mental health facility in Oakdale.

The order followed the determination that the 31-year-old Dieckmann wasn’t mentally competent. Staff at the Oakdale facility will try to restore Dieckmann’s mental health to the point where he can understand the charges against him and participate in his defense.

He was charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the March deaths of his mother, 63-year-old Jacqueline Dieckmann, and his grandmother, 91-year-old Illa Pfeiffer.