SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) - A man accused of stabbing his mother to death in Sioux City last year has been ordered to stand trial this year.
Paul Belk, 31, of Beaufort, South Carolina, was in court Friday for a status hearing, where a judge set his first-degree murder trial for April 20 in Woodbury County, the Sioux City Journal reported. His attorneys have filed notice that Belk will use an insanity defense.
In addition to murder, Belk also faces charges of willful injury and possession of a controlled substance for the April 14 stabbing death of 55-year-old Lisa Belk in her Sioux City home.
Police have said Paul Belk because upset with his mother and sister during a family gathering, grabbed a kitchen knife and repeatedly stabbed his mother and also slashed his sister in a shoulder.
Both women were taken to a Sioux City hospital, where Lisa Belk died. The sister was treated for her injury and released.
If convicted, Paul Belk faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.
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