Feb 12, 2013 1 min read

GREENSBURG (AP) – A judge has rejected a mental infirmity defense in the guilt phase of the ongoing trial of a man charged in the torture killing of a mentally disabled Western Pennsylvania woman.

However, Westmoreland County Judge Rita Hathaway ruled Monday that 26-year-old Ricky Smyrnes can raise the issue in the death penalty phase of his trial, should he be convicted of first-degree murder in the February 2010 death of Jennifer Daugherty.

Investigators say Smyrnes and five others tortured Daugherty for more than two days in a dingy Greensburg apartment before killing her and dumping her body. One co-defendant was sentenced to death last month and another to life in prison last year.

Authorities say Daugherty was forced to write a suicide note and drink a cocktail of human waste, bleach and prescription drugs before her death.

Smynes’ trial continued Tuesday.