Chilean students' alleged killer — competent or not? (UPDATED with PHOTO GALLERY)

MIRAMAR BEACH – Nine months after being found incompetent to stand trial, Dannie Baker has been discharged from the state hospital and is waiting for another evaluation from psychologists.

Baker is charged with killing two Chilean students and wounding three others in February 2009. He was ruled incompetent and sent to Florida State Hospital in Chattahoochee for treatment in November 2009.

“He was released from the state hospital after he was deemed competent,” said Robert Elmore, assistant state attorney prosecuting the case. “Now, his attorney will have him reexamined, then dependent on their findings, we will eventually have a competency hearing.”

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A COLLECTION OF COVERAGE

To read a victim's account of the shooting, click here.

To see a video of a victim describing the attack, click here.

To read about the victims' recovery, click here.

During a past pre-trial hearing, the Chilean consul attended.

To read about how the community rallied behind the survivors, click here.

To see a photo gallery from the shooting scene.

To read a recent story reported from Baker's home, click here.

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Baker is being held at the Walton County Jail until a decision can be made. Elmore said no trial date has been set.

He said if Baker is found competent, the state will seek the death penalty for the murders.

David Triana, a local advocate for the Hispanic community, has kept in touch with one of the victims, Sebastian Arizaga-Suarez, since the incident.

“I think it’s the right call. I never felt like he was crazy,” Triana said of Baker. “He kind of snapped in many ways, but I don’t think he was crazy at all with the way it appeared that he premeditatedly went in and did this thing.”

The five students — four men and one woman — were sitting in their Scenic Gulf Drive town home in Destin on Feb. 26, 2009, around 1:45 a.m. when they were shot with a rifle through a window.

Walton County Sheriff’s deputies arrived to find Racine Libia Balbontin-Argandona, 22, and Nicholas Pablo Corp-Torres, 23, dead at the scene. Sebastian Mauricio Arizaga-Suarez was shot in the back; David Alonzo Bilbao-Meza was shot in the arm; and Francisco Javier Cofre-Fernandez was shot in the face and arm.

Baker, then 60, barricaded himself inside his nearby town home until he surrendered shortly after 6 a.m.

He was charged with two counts of premeditated first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, three counts of attempted first-degree murder with a firearm and shooting into an occupied building.

The three injured students have since returned to Chile.

Triana said the students have not been focused on Baker’s trial.

“To be honest with you, these kids have been so positive about the whole thing. I’m sure they want justice to be made but I don’t think … it’s a driving force for them in any way,” Triana said. “They’re so positive about recovery … and being alive.”

Elmore said the mental evaluations will determine Baker’s path through the legal system.

“He definitely has to be found competent for there to be a trial,” Elmore said. “If he’s found incompetent he’ll be sent to the hospital for therapy, medical attention and education.”

Lenny Platteborze with the public defenders office is Baker’s lawyer. He was not available for comment.

Elmore said a status conference is scheduled for Aug. 3 to review the case.