Man, 20, 'raped and killed pygmy goat while high on bath salts'

Mark Thompson declared not competent to stand trial

Ordered to spend six years in mental health hospital

Dead animal 'found next to pornographic magazine'



Mentally ill: Mark Lucas Thompson (pictured) allegedly raped and killed his neighbour's pygmy goat

A deranged man stole, raped and killed his neighbour's goat while high on bath salts, a court has heard.

Mark Lucas Thompson, 20, was indicted for animal cruelty and petit larceny, but will not stand trial after a judge ruled he was mentally ill.

The decision by Kanawha County Circuit Court Judge James Stucky comes after several mental evaluations.

The West Virginia man, who had pleaded not guilty to the charges, was instead ordered to spend six-and-a-half years in treatment at the William R Sharpe Jr Hospital in Weston.

Thompson told police he had taken bath salts, a synthetic cocaine, for three days, according to The Charleston Gazette.

When they searched his home, they allegedly found a pornographic magazine lying near the pygmy goat's dead body.

Thompson is believed to have sodomised the animal.

Sick: The dead pygmy goat (not pictured) was allegedly found next to a pornographic magazine at Thompson's home

On Monday, assistant prosecutor Fred Giggenbach said: 'I'm convinced the defendant committed these crimes, but I'm convinced he suffers from serious mental disease or defect.

'He needs mental health treatment and in fairness a regional jail is not the place for him.'