Trial for inmate Joshua Scolman, accused of stabbing Black prisoner in heart, put on hold

A White Green Bay Correctional Institution prisoner who stabbed and killed a Black inmate must undergo a competency exam before his trial can proceed. Per FOX 11, authorities brought a first-degree intentional homicide charge against Joshua Scolman after he fatally stabbed Timothy Nabors in October 2022.

Scolman is said to have killed Nabors when the victim stepped in to break up a fight the White inmate was having with another prisoner. Scolman had reportedly targeted that inmate, the criminal complaint stated. Scolman has also additionally been charged with attempted homicide for attacking that inmate. 

Prior to the fatal incident, Scolman was being monitored for “extremely concerning racist activity”, the Green Bay Press-Gazette reported. The Brown County Sheriff’s Office in an investigation report stated that Scolman showed interest in a White supremacist gang whose condition to become a member was “to kill a Black male.” The knife Scolman used to kill Nabors also had a swastika etched on it.

A competency evaluation “is a court ordered mental health assessment to determine the ability of the defendant to understand the nature and consequences of the court proceedings.” The order for Scolman to undergo a psychiatric evaluation was granted by a judge on Friday after the suspect’s lawyer highlighted the issue in a letter, FOX 11 reported.

Scolman was sentenced to 45 years in prison after he was found guilty of three counts of homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle following a 2006 accident that took the lives of three people, the Green Bay Press-Gazette reported. He also received an additional five-year sentence for driving while intoxicated. In 2020, he was also sentenced to 15 years in prison after he was found guilty of second-degree sexual assault of a child younger than 16.

Scolman’s trial for allegedly killing Nabors has since been postponed to February 12.