Mental evaluation ordered in Sparks murder case

A photo provided by the Washoe County Jail is the booking photo of Wayne Paul Burgarello, 73, of Sparks, Nev. Burgarello was areested on Tuesday, May 27, 2014, on suspicion of murder and attempted murder in a fatal shooting in Februrary at a vacant Sparks residence he owns. (AP Photo/Washoe County Sheriff's Office)

SPARKS — A judge has ordered a mental evaluation for a 73-year-old Sparks man charged with murder in the shooting of two unarmed trespassers that is bringing attention to Nevada’s “stand your ground” law.

Sparks Justice of the Peace Chris Wilson granted prosecutors’ request for the evaluation Tuesday and postponed Thursday’s scheduled preliminary hearing for Wayne Burgarello.

Burgarello insists he was acting in self-defense in February when he killed a man and seriously wounded a woman he found in a vacant house he owns in Sparks.

Nevada law allows the use of deadly force against attackers. It doesn’t require the attackers be armed, but says the shooter cannot be the original aggressor.

Wilson said he’s sending the case to Washoe County District Court, where Burgarello is scheduled to appear July 30.