Almost a year to the date the crime occurred, a non-practicing immigration attorney is about to stand trial on charges that he went on a racially motivated shooting spree in which five people were killed and another was paralyzed.

Richard Baumhammers will face trial at 10 a.m. Friday.

Allegheny County prosecutors say that, on April 28, 2000, the 35-year-old Baumhammers sought out six people and shot them in broad daylight in the suburbs south and west of Pittsburgh.

His first victim was a Jewish woman who lived next door to his parents in Mt. Lebanon, authorities said.

Baumhammers targeted two Indian men at an Indian grocery store, two Asian employees at a Chinese restaurant and a black man at a martial arts school in Beaver County, police said.

Baumhammers surrendered to police who stopped his sport utility vehicle late that afternoon.

After months of debate on Baumhammers' competency and whether a fair trial could be held in Allegheny County, a jury was selected this week and the trial before Judge Jeffrey Manning was set.

The incidents occurred less than two months after an alleged racially motivated shooting spree by a black man in Wilkinsburg had left three dead and two wounded.

According to a report by Joe Mandak of The Associated Press, Baumhammers' fate will likely rest on the jury's opinion of the testimony of two doctors -- prosecution psychiatrist Dr. Michael Wellner and defense neurologist Dr. James Merikangas.

Baumhammers' attorney William Difenderfer doesn't dispute his client's actions.

It's unclear if Deputy District Attorney Edward Borkowski will dispute that Baumhammers is mentally ill, because none of the participants can speak about strategy due to a gag order. What is certain is that Borkowski will try to prove that Baumhammers was legally sane at the time of the shootings.

In Pennsylvania, a mentally ill person can still be considered legally sane -- and therefore found guilty of a crime -- if it is proved that he could distinguish right from wrong at the time of the act.

At Baumhammers' trial, Difenderfer plans to illustrate Baumhammers' mental history through various documents, the contents of which haven't been publicized. They include:

• Letters that he wrote to U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., in 1996 and 1997.
• Seven diaries that Baumhammers kept from 1990 through August 2000.
• Psychiatric records from 1990-95 from the Emory University Clinic in Atlanta, where Baumhammers used to live.

Previous Stories:

• April 9, 2001: Judge Orders Taylor Back To Jail
• April 8, 2001: Plea Bargains Offered For Baumhammers, Taylor
• March 20, 2001: Did Baumhammers Research Alleged Victims?
• January 2, 2001: Allegheny County Seeking 3 Death Sentences
• November 18, 2000: Attorney: Baumhammers Can Get Fair Trial
• September 16, 2000: Baumhammers Ruled Competent To Stand Trial
• August 29, 2000: Lone Shooting Spree Survivor Goes Home
• May 17, 2000: Heroes Honored In Beaver County
• May 3, 2000: Baumhammers Arraigned In Allegheny County
• May 3, 2000: Company Reposts Baumhammers' Site
• April 30, 2000: D.A. Says Note Could Reveal Hate Motive
• April 29, 2000: Who Is Richard Baumhammers?
• April 29, 2000: Suspect Arraigned In Shooting Spree