Jared Loughner, the man accused of killing six people and wounding then-US representative Gabrielle Giffords in 2011, is set to plead guilty in a Tucson court tomorrow, a person familiar with the case said.
The source confirmed that the US government believed Mr Loughner (23) was competent to stand trial and would argue that in court tomorrow. Mr Loughner is willing to change his plea to guilty, the source said.
Psychiatric experts who have examined Mr Loughner were scheduled to testify in a mental competency hearing tomorrow that he was competent to stand trial and understood the 49 charges against him, the Los Angeles Times reported earlier.
A spokesman for the US attorney’s office in Phoenix said he could “neither confirm nor deny” whether Mr Loughner would plead guilty.
The team of four lawyers representing Mr Loughner had not responded to emailed requests for comment.
Ms Giffords, an Arizona Democrat, was shot in the head at close range by a gunman who killed six others, including a nine-year-old girl. – (Reuters)