POLSON – A judge ordered a mental health evaluation for a drifter charged with trying to steal foreclosed houses in Polson.
District Judge Kim Christopher on Thursday ordered Brent Arthur Wilson, 53, committed to the Montana State Hospital in Warm Springs as soon as a bed is available to determine if he can answer the charges.
Wilson is charged with theft, deceptive practices and tampering with public records or information in the filing of bizarre paperwork with the county aimed at claiming ownership of homes.
He has been jailed since Jan. 31 and was being held on $100,000 bail.
Wilson has refused to participate in court hearings and addresses the judge by her first name when she uses her middle name. Wilson is acting as his own attorney, and the court entered not guilty pleas on his behalf.
“There are questions about his ability to represent himself,” said Deputy Lake County Attorney Jessica Cole-Hodgkinson.
Wilson was arrested after a real estate agent who had been hired to sell a $300,000, foreclosed log house noticed the “For Sale” signs were missing and the locks had been changed.
Officials allege Wilson was collecting rent on one house, living in another and trying to take control of the log house.
Lake County officials said paperwork for some other homes said Wilson had purchased the property from God. An investigation was continuing.