MADISON, Wis. — A Mount Horeb man accused of brutally killing a Navy veteran along the side of a Dane County road last year is now considered fit to stand trial.
A Dane County judge declared Riley Berg, 22, competent during a hearing Friday morning.
Berg was arrested last February on homicide charges. He was found not fit to stand trial in April and moved from the Dane County Jail to the Mendota Mental Health facility in Madison for treatment to regain competency, court records indicate.
Berg is accused of killing 26-year-old Nicholas Day in what law enforcement officials have called an “extremely brutal” and “very calculated” homicide.
Detectives said Day was out for a jog in the town of Blue Mounds when he was attacked. His body was found off County Highway JG by a passerby on Jan. 15.
The case was originally thought to be a hit-and-run due to the situation in which Day’s body was found, but autopsy results showed he died from homicidal violence. Day was shot and had multiple stab wounds, according to the medical examiner.
Surveillance video placed Berg’s car in the area around the time Day was killed, according to a criminal complaint. Court records suggest Berg’s father told investigators his son was being treated for schizophrenia.
Authorities previously said the motive for the killing was unclear.
Day’s family described him as an amazing father and kind soul who would help anyone who needed it. He served in the U.S. Navy for six years before his death.
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