Judge rules Lower Burrell man accused in slaying of Mogie's owner is incompetent to stand trial

The case against a Lower Burrell man accused in the fatal shooting last year of the owner of Mogie’s Irish Pub in Lower Burrell will be postponed indefinitely.

A Westmoreland County judge Tuesday found the accused killer, Nathan Salem, incompetent to stand trial.

“He has lost touch with reality,” testified Dr. Robert Wettstein, a psychologist hired by Salem’s defense.

Salem, 45, has been in jail without bond since Dec. 21 after he was charged with criminal homicide and the first-degree murder of David “Mogie” Magill, 64, owner of the bar and restaurant on Leechburg Road. Magill was gunned down outside the business.

Defense attorney Dan Joseph contended Salem, who, police said, confessed his role in the shooting, has been unable to assist in preparation for trial.

Wettstein testified Tuesday he met three times with Salem at the county jail and diagnosed him as having an unspecified psychotic disorder that require treatment in a mental health facility. Salem, he said, suffers from delusions and hallucinations.

Witnesses at a preliminary hearing in February testified Salem shot Magill as he parked his car in Mogie’s parking lot as he came to work to open the restaurant that morning.

Multiple people witnessed the shooting, which also was captured on video, police said.

According to court records, Salem told police he shot Magill because he believed Magill was a “drug-dealing pedophile.” Police said Salem didn’t offer any evidence to support his claims. Magill’s family members vehemently denied Salem’s allegations.

Eric Schwartz, a deputy warden of treatment at Westmoreland County Prison, testified Salem spent five days on suicide watch immediately after his arrest and, since February, has been confined alone to a cell under administrative custody over safety concerns.

Schwartz said Salem has complained that guards and jail staff are reading his mind and broadcasting his thoughts over the facility’s speakers and suggested it rains in his cell, which he also has suggested is a gas chamber. He testified Salem has expressed homicidal ideologies.

Westmoreland County Common Pleas Judge Scott Mears ordered Salem to be transferred to Torrance State Hospital in Derry for treatment to restore his competency that eventually could allow for the case against him to proceed.

Officials said it could be up to three months before a bed at the hospital is available for Salem. Until then, he will remain at the county jail and receive treatment in the county lockup, the judge said.