One Waterford Hospital patient accused of killing another has been deemed fit to stand trial.

Thirty-year-old Tom Parsley was first charged with attempted murder after the incident at the hospital six days before Christmas, on Dec. 19th.

The supper-time attack left 66-year-old Tom Poole fighting for his life, a battle he lost two days later at the Health Sciences Centre.

That led to the charge being upgraded to murder, though it’s unclear if it’s in the second or most serious first-degree, as is stated in court documents. Police say a weapon was used but have not said what kind.

The tragic incident has created an unusual situation for the courts, since Parsley was already a patient at the Waterford, where the homicide occurred.

He was returned to the facility for a psychiatric assessment, which found he is mentally fit to answer to the murder charge.

Despite that, Parsley remains in custody there at the request of the Waterford under a section of the Prisons Act, given the seriousness of the alleged offence.

Parsley appeared briefly in court by phone from the Waterford this morning for an update on his case.

The murder charge, along with several other unrelated assault, property and fraud charges will be called together during his next court date on Wednesday.