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A man from Georgia, who shockingly removed his own eyes and bit off part of his tongue while incarcerated, has now been deemed fit to face trial.
Robert Keller, aged 32, is charged with 10 offenses, including malice murder, felony murder, and armed robbery, related to the 2024 killing of Bruce Dupree, who was 43 years old.
Following his arrest, Keller engaged in these extreme acts of self-harm, prompting authorities to initiate a competency hearing to evaluate his mental health, as reported by Law & Crime.
Keller’s defense team argued that he was insane during the murder of Dupree. However, psychologists Dr. Jeremy Gay and Dr. Daniel Fass concluded otherwise, noting in court documents that the self-mutilation occurred “after the alleged criminal activity.”
Dr. Gay further stated that Keller was not experiencing delusions or an inability to discern right from wrong at the time of the crime.
In addition, Fass noted in the court documents that Keller displayed “intellectual functioning” that was better than most of those he evaluates and didn’t show any symptoms of “severe, persistent medical” illnesses like bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. He added, per WJCL, that he believed Keller had injured himself out of a sense of guilt or shame.
During a competency hearing held Jan. 27, two officers working at the jail also testified that Keller had told them he wanted to go to a medical prison, according to the records. He allegedly told them that he was not mentally ill and only told others he heard voices to “cover his ass.”
What Are the Allegations Against Robert Keller?
Keller was arrested after the Bulloch County Sheriff’s Office received reports Oct. 14, 2024 of a person laying on the side of the Interstate 16 near Mile Marker 113, according to an earlier statement from the department. Emergency personnel rendered medical aid, however, Dupree, who suffered “multiple injuries on his torso, head, hands/arms and neck,” succumbed to his injuries.
Bulloch County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Todd Hutchens said during a press conference held at the time, per the Statesboro Herald, that Keller was located after a clerk at Pojo’s truck stop noticed a person paid with blood-soaked cash. The customer—later identified by investigators as Keller—also had blood on his hands.
Deputies responded and located Dupree’s Kia abandoned on the side of the road not far from the convenience store.
By then Keller had fled the scene, but he was tracked to the Patriot Inn after the clerk there called 911 reporting a strange man matching the same description the Pojo’s employee gave wandering the grounds. According to Hutchens, deputies saw “Mr. Keller run from the Patriot Inn out to the highway,” where he was apprehended.
At the time, Hutchens said although they believed the crime was “not random,” authorities were unsure of the connection between the two men.
Oxygen reached out to Hutchens for additional comment, but did not receive an immediate reply.
Keller was accused in an indictment, obtained by WJCL, of stabbing Dupree, before stealing his car and phone. He’s now facing charges of malice murder, multiple felony murder counts, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, armed robbery, hijacking a motor vehicle and possesion of a knife during the commission of a felony.