Arnett declared mentally competent to stand trial

More than two years after he was arrested for the stabbing death of his stepfather in Aurora, Caleb Arnett has been declared mentally competent to stand trial for first degree murder and five other charges. In a hearing in Hamilton County Court on Tuesday morning Jan. 6, Judge Lynelle D. Homolka ruled that the 31-year-old Arnett is now competent to be tried on the charges. 
In her order the judge stated, “Based on the evidence, the court finds that the defendant has properly been restored to competency and is deemed competent for trial.” 
Hamilton County Attorney Douglas Dexter said following the hearing that Arnett has asked for a preliminary hearing, which has been set for Tuesday, Feb. 24 at 1 p.m. 
“We’re going to pursue the charges in the original complaint, which was one count of first degree murder, two counts of first degree assault and then three counts of using a knife to  commit a felony,” Dexter said.
Arnett is accused in the December 2023 stabbing death of his stepfather, Ross Nickolaus and the wounding of his mother, Theresa Nickolaus, and his stepbrother on Dec. 2, 2023 in their Aurora home. 
Under the heading of “bond information” court documents state that bond has been set at 10 percent of $2 million.
Initially lodged in the Hamilton County Jail after his arrest, Arnett was later remanded to the custody of Lincoln Regional Center (LRC) to be mentally evaluated by DHHS. In March of 2024 he was declared mentally incompetent to stand trial and ordered to remain at LRC for treatment. Since then he has appeared virtually for regularly scheduled hearings before Judge Homolka to determine his mental competence for trial.  The judge ordered that Arnett remain at LRC for pretrial detention.