WASHINGTON - A judge has ruled that a German man is competent to stand trial in the beating death of his much-older wife inside their Washington home.

The Washington Post reports that the decision by Superior Court Judge Russell Canan followed nearly a week of expert testimony. It sets up a high-profile trial next year for 48-year-old Albrecht Muth.

Muth is charged with first-degree murder in the August 2011 death of his wife, Viola Drath, a 91-year-old German journalist and socialite. Drath was found strangled and beaten in a bathroom of the couple's row home in the city's fashionable Georgetown neighbourhood.

Doctors at St. Elizabeths Hospital initially said Muth was too delusional to stand trial, but they later concluded he was trying to manipulate the legal system.

© Copyright 2013