Daniel Fears appears in Sequoyah County court

Thursday, October 9th 2003, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

SALLISAW, Okla. (AP) -- A Sequoyah County judge entered an innocent plea Thursday for the Sallisaw teenager accused of killing two people and wounding six others in a shooting spree last October.

Daniel Hawke Fears, wearing an orange jail jumpsuit, remained silent when District Judge John Garrett asked how he would plead to two charges of first-degree murder and 16 other felonies.

Fears attorney Robert Nigh said he and attorney Clark Brewster would contend in trial that Fears, 18, was insane when he fatally shot Patsy Wells and Reba Spangler and wounded six others Oct. 27.

Doctors hired by the defense have said Fears has a psychotic personality and believes he is influenced by extraterrestrials. He has been taking medication and was determined to be competent for trial.

First District Attorney Monte Strout said prosecutors will decide soon whether to seek the death penalty for Fears, who remains jailed without bail in Sequoyah County.

The teenager allegedly began the spree with a 20-gauge shotgun in Sallisaw after a neighbor, who was wounded in the shootings, chastised him for driving recklessly near playing children, authorities say.

The spree continued east on U.S. 64 toward Muldrow with Fears shooting another neighbor, a salesman and a patron at a car dealership, a couple at statue shop and then randomly at passing cars, authorities say