A competency hearing was held in Cumberland County Criminal Court yesterday (June 22, 2021) to determine if 76-year-old Warren John Nostrom is competent to stand trial on two counts of first-degree murder. He is accused of fatally shooting 58-year-old Joy Nostrom and 54-year-old Mark Gunter in the parking lot of the school bus garage on Genesis Road in Crossville in September 2018. Warren Nostrom then reportedly tried to shoot himself in the head but survived.

Parts of the testimony in court yesterday involved the attorney for Warren Nostrom, Howard Upchurch, questioning a doctor about the injuries his client sustained from the self-inflicted gunshot wound and the pain medicine he received. Warren Nostrom was flown by Lifeforce to Erlanger Medical Center the day of the shooting. The gunshot impacted the scalp area on the top of his head. He was treated in Chattanooga and later released into the custody of Crossville Police Lt. Dustin Lester. Nostrom was transported to the Cumberland County jail.

Upchurch questioned the doctor about the effects of the pain medication Warren Nostrom received just hours before he was discharged.

Assistant District Attorney Phillip Hatch for the prosecution asked the doctor about the video of Warren Nostrom being interviewed by law enforcement after he got to the Cumberland County jail. The doctor said he saw no indication of lasting medicine effects from Warren Nostrom at the time of his questioning some seven hours after being released from the hospital.

Hatch was referring to a video and audio recording of a TBI special agent interviewing Warren Nostrom at the jail. He was informed of his rights and continued to speak ranging in topics from his marriage to Joy to events leading up to the fatal encounter with her and Mark Gunter.

The agent testified he arrived on the scene the day of the incident and Joy Nostrom sustained a gunshot wound to the head while Mark Gunter was shot in the chest. A business next to the school bus garage captured some of the encounter on surveillance footage. It reportedly showed Warren Nostrom reportedly pulling up in his vehicle right after Joy and Mark arrived.

Two previous orders of protection were filed by Joy Nostrom against her soon to be ex-husband, Warren. They were later dismissed.

A third order of protection was active at the time of the shooting. A complaint for divorce was also filed in August 2018, one month prior to the deadly incident. The grounds was placed on inappropriate martial conduct. Upchurch was representing Warren Nostrom in that proceeding.

The court learned of an incident that happened at a restaurant on North Main Street in Crossville while the order was in place. Warren Nostrom went into the establishment after seeing Joy’s vehicle in the parking lot and confronted her and Mark. He was told to leave or the police would be summoned. A threat was allegedly made to them by Warren before he left.

In the order of protection, Warren Nostrom had to surrender all firearms he owned until the court order was over. He stated he forgot to turn in a handgun in the console of his vehicle. This would be the alleged murder weapon.

At the end of the day after hearing testimonies in the case, Judge Gary McKenzie ruled Nostrom was competent to stand trial which is scheduled to get underway September 14, 2021.

He continues to be held by the Tennessee Department of Corrections at the Lois M. DeBerry Special Needs Facility, a maximum-security prison in Nashville. It houses prisoners with multiple and complex medical problems.

(story was first done during the competency hearing and was later updated in bold when Nostrom was found mentally fit to stand trial)