NEESES — A recently released mental patient has been accused of stabbing his wife to death Thursday at their Neeses home.

Orangeburg County Sheriff Larry Williams said police still don’t know what ignited the incident that resulted in the death of the woman.

“Upon officers’ arrival, they found the victim, Glenda Brooks, 53 years old, with what appeared to be a stab wound to the lower abdomen,” Williams said.

“The subject, upon the officers’ entering the home, indicated that he had stabbed his wife for reasons unknown.”

The victim’s husband, Lee B. Brooks, 56, has been charged with murder, Williams said.

“I think they’d been married between 20 and 30 years, a long-time marriage,” he said. “Mr. Brooks has no priors.”

Brooks is scheduled to appear before a magistrate today for a formal arraignment.

Officers went to the couple’s home at 979 Calvary Church Road at around 7:30 a.m. Thursday after receiving a 911 call reporting a possible homicide. A neighbor reported that a man approached her, saying he had stabbed his wife.

Law enforcement officials found the victim’s body, Williams said. Lee Brooks was located at the scene.

A knife found near the residence, photographs taken inside the home and other physical evidence have been taken into custody for a forensic examination.

Glenda Brooks’ body has been sent for an autopsy to confirm the single stab wound was the cause of death, Williams said.

An issue in the incident, Williams said, will be Lee Brooks’ mental state at the time of his wife’s death.

The Calvary Church Road man had been released from a Midlands mental health center “within the past 10 to 12 days,” Williams said.

“He’s charged, but we still have to have a mental evaluation,” the sheriff said.

1st Circuit Solicitor David Pascoe said the mental evaluation by a forensic psychiatrist will be done to “determine whether he is competent to stand trial.”

“If you have a mental defect or illness and that illness causes that person not to know the difference between right and wrong, then they cannot be held responsible,” Pascoe said.

But it has not yet been determined whether Brooks knows the difference between right and wrong.

In general, Pascoe said, if a person has been determined incompetent to stand trial and his mental faculties can’t be restored, he could be remanded to a state mental health hospital.

However, if that person’s mental abilities were to be restored at a later date, prosecutors could then reinstate any charges, Pascoe said.

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