Scott Thorpe is likely bound for Atascadero State Hospital, a Nevada County Superior Court judge said during a brief hearing Friday.

The alleged triple murderer was scheduled to appear in court, but a report intended to recommend Thorpe's place of treatment hasn't been prepared. The state Department of Mental Health report is now expected to be filed within two weeks.

Nonetheless, Judge John Darlington indicated that Thorpe's next stop would be Atascadero, which is near San Luis Obispo.

"The statute presumes that's the appropriate placement, so we'll see," he said.

Thorpe didn't appear for the hearing, and another hearing won't be needed in two weeks unless either side objects to the report.

Public Defender Thomas Anderson said Friday's scheduling snafu wasn't a setback, because Thorpe will likely have to wait a couple weeks anyway before a bed is available at Atascadero. He's now being held at Wayne Brown Correctional Facility without bail.

The judge last month ruled that Thorpe was mentally incompetent to stand trial after three doctors who interviewed him reached the same conclusion. One, a forensic psychiatrist at Atascadero, believed the alleged gunman's competency could be restored through treatment.

All the doctors found that Thorpe was delusional and that he believed there was an FBI conspiracy against him.

The incompetency finding effectively suspended Thorpe's criminal proceedings.

The 41-year-old Smartville man is accused of killing three people and wounding two Jan. 10 in back-to-back shooting sprees at the county Behavioral Health Department in Nevada City, where he was an outpatient; and Lyon's Restaurant near Grass Valley, which he reportedly thought had poisoned his food.

A sixth person was seriously injured jumping from a second-story window at Behavioral Health.

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