Lower Burrell man accused of shooting Mogie's owner not competent, lawyers say

A Lower Burrell man accused of fatally shooting restaurant owner David “Mogie” Magill is not mentally competent to help attorneys prepare for his homicide trial, according to a petition filed in Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court.

Attorney Daniel Joseph wrote in the petition that he and co-counsel Duke George have made five attempts to talk with Nathan Salem, 45, at Westmoreland County Prison but Salem “has been unable to intelligently discuss any matters of the case with them.”

They are seeking to have his homicide case put on hold until his competency can be determined.

Salem has been at the jail without bond since Dec. 21, the day authorities said he fatally shot Magill, 64, about 9 a.m. outside Mogie’s Irish Pub on Leechburg Road in Lower Burrell. Magill owned the restaurant and was preparing to open it for the day.

Police said Salem turned himself in to police at Lower Burrell City Hall shortly afterward.

Since his arrest, Salem’s attorneys said, he has been evaluated over several visits by a psychiatrist who has determined that Salem is not able to participate in the defense of his case because of his mental state.

“Based on the fact that counsel cannot engage the defendant in intelligent, reasonable discussions concerning the case, and due to his mental conditions, they are unable to proceed with his defense at the time of trial,” Joseph wrote in the petition.

Salem has been kept isolated from other inmates because of his mental status, according to his attorneys.

A judge did not immediately rule on the matter. A status conference in the case is scheduled for May 29.

Testimony from a February preliminary hearing indicated Salem was in a truck on Wildlife Lodge Road next to the pub’s parking lot and shot at Magill from there as Magill was parking his car in the pub’s lot that morning.

The shooting was witnessed by multiple people and captured on video. Investigators said Magill did nothing before the shooting that would have made him a threat to anyone.

Salem told police he shot Magill because he believed Magill was a “drug-dealing pedophile.” Police said Salem didn’t offer any evidence to support his claims. Magill’s family members vehemently denied the allegations.