A court will now determine if a man accused of killing his wife, dismembering her body in a vacant Pasadena restaurant then setting fire to a suitcase with more of her remains inside in a Los Angeles parking lot is mentally competent to stand trial.

The defense attorney for Valentino Gutierrez raised a doubt of mental competence over the objection of the prosecution, said Pamela J. Johnson, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

That move by Gutierrez’s lawyer occurred Thursday, July 17, during Valentino’s most-recent court appearance in Pasadena Superior Court, a court official said.

The criminal case against the now-64-year-old was suspended.

Under the law, to be mentally incompetent means a defendant can’t cooperate with his or her attorney in the d

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