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Background: The Bulloch County Jail building in Statesboro, Ga. (Google Maps). Insets (left to right): Robert Brandon Keller before he removed his eyeballs and after (Bulloch County Sheriff”s Office).
A Georgia man accused of murder has been deemed fit to stand trial, despite the shocking incident where he gouged out his own eyes while in custody.
Robert Brandon Keller, age 32, is set to face trial for the alleged murder of 43-year-old Bruce Dupree. Dupree’s body was discovered on the side of a highway in Bulloch County, Georgia, on October 14, 2024. According to reports from the Statesboro Herald at the time, Dupree had suffered multiple stab wounds and was pronounced dead shortly after being found.
Authorities were led to Keller after an employee at a local Pojo’s noticed he had “blood on his hands” and “blood on the cash he paid with,” which prompted his arrest.
Keller has been detained in the Bulloch County Jail, facing charges that include two counts of murder, armed robbery, hijacking a motor vehicle, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm or knife during the commission of a felony. Throughout his legal proceedings, he has been consistently denied bail.
Court documents obtained by Law&Crime reveal that while in custody, Keller not only removed his eyes but also bit off a portion of his tongue. This prompted a competency evaluation, during which psychologists Dr. Jeremy Gay and Dr. Daniel Fass assessed Keller’s mental state and his capacity to be held criminally responsible for his actions.
Both doctors concluded that despite Keller’s dramatic acts of self-harm, he was competent to stand trial. Gay and Fass stated that the disturbing nature of the self-mutilation “happened after the alleged criminal activity.” Dr. Gay stated that Keller “was not suffering from either a delusional compulsion at the time of the crime or an inability to distinguish right and wrong at the time of the crime.”
Dr. Fass also stated that when he evaluated Keller in April 2025, the murder suspect did not show “symptoms of a severe, persistent medical illness like bipolar disorder or schizophrenia.” He went as far as to say that Keller’s “intellectual functioning” and ability to answer questions in court “were much better than a lot of the people he evaluates.”
According to the documents, two jailers who testified at the competency hearing on Jan. 27 said Keller told them “he was not mental, and that he said he heard voices to cover his ass.”
Dr. Gay and Dr. Fass ruled that Keller was competent to stand trial in an order filed on Feb. 10. His trial date has not yet been scheduled.