MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- A Montgomery homicide detective said murder suspect Zachary Stirewalt told him that God instructed him to kill the man who had given him a temporary place to live.

“He said God came to him and told him to kill Dan (Turman),” Montgomery Detective A.E. Magnus said during Stirewalt’s preliminary hearing on Friday morning in Montgomery District Judge Sharon Yates’ courtroom.

During an interrogation on the morning of the shooting, Magnus said Stirewalt told him that he had awoken early on the morning of Nov. 24 and it was still dark outside. He was praying and listening to music when God told him to kill Turman.

Magnus said Stirewalt told him he bent down on the side of the bed that Turman was sleeping in, got the gun out of the bedside nightstand and shot Turman in the head.

Magnus continued saying Stirewalt left the bedroom but shortly returned to the bedroom and when he saw Turman moving around in the bed he shot him multiple times.

According to testimony, Stirewalt left his home in North Carolina and headed west on a “mission from God.” He ended up in Montgomery and met Turman through a woman he had met at a church, Magnus said.

Stirewalt's attorney Bill Blanchard said in a previous interview with Al.com that Stirewalt had visited Birmingham and Atlanta before ending up in Montgomery.

Yates determined there was enough evidence to bound Stirewalt’s case over to the Grand Jury.

A number of Turman’s family were in attendance at this morning’s hearing.

Since Stirewalt had no other place to live, Turman invited him to stay in his mobile home on 1 Aster Drive in the Sunshine Mobile Home Park off Eastern Boulevard. Stirewalt has been living in the mobile home for about a week and a half when the shooting occurred. He had even met Turman’s family on Thanksgiving.

Magnus said Stirewalt called 911 to report the shooting at around 6 a.m. on Nov. 24.

“He was observed to have blood on him,” he said.

Magnus said Stirewalt was “very relaxed, very calm” during his interrogation.

Turman’s autopsy is still pending.

Blanchard has filed a petition in Montgomery County District Court asking it to start proceeding to determine whether Stirewalt is competent to stand trial.

This may just be a typical defense tactic, but to those who knew Stirewalt it may have some real merit.

Stirewalt had been a college student preparing to become a commercial photographer when he suddenly left North Carolina where he grew up and was going to school. He had interned in New York City last summer and seemed to have a bright future ahead of him.

Blanchard said a forensic psychologist has evaluated Stirewalt and determined he has a “serious mental disorder” and isn’t competent to stand trial at this time.

(The story was corrected to change an error made in identifying murder victim Dan Turman's family as the family of the murder suspect).