Judge rules Speight competent to stand trial in Appomattox slayings

A judge on Friday declared a man accused of killing eight people mentally fit to stand trial and appointed a public defender to represent him.Appomattox Circuit Judge Richard Blanton accepted a state mental-health hospital's report stating that Christopher Speight, 41, is capable of understanding court proceedings and assisting his lawyers.C.J. Covati of Roanoke, one of two attorneys hired by