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Experts say Iowa suspect competent for trial

LOGAN, Iowa (AP) — Two psychiatric experts say an 18-year-old suspect is competent to stand trial on a charge that he killed his 5-year-old foster brother in western Iowa's Harrison County.

The two University of Iowa experts testified Wednesday that Cody Metzker-Madsen was extremely immature but said his "brain works very well."

Metzker-Madsen has pleaded not guilty to a murder charge in the slaying of Dominic Elkins on Aug. 31 last year. Authorities say the little boy died of head injuries and drowning. His body was found at the bottom of a rural ravine north of Logan.

Metzker-Madsen was 17 at the time.

The final decision rests with Judge Kathleen Kilnoski, who did not say Wednesday when she would rule on the defendant's competence for a murder trial.

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