Crane-Sitter Competent for Murder Trial

CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) -- A Florida judge says a man who perched himself atop a crane in Atlanta in 2005 is competent to stand trial on a charge he murdered his ex-girlfriend.

Court records in Pinellas County on Florida's Gulf Coast show that 44-year-old Carl Edward Roland has been deemed fit for trial on the first-degree murder charge.

Authorities suspect he killed his ex-girlfriend, Jennifer Gonzalez, before fleeing to Atlanta in May 2005. Roland spent 56 hours atop a 350-foot crane in Atlanta's Buckhead neighborhood as

Florida authorities pieced together their case.

Roland was returned to Florida after an officer shocked him with a stun gun and was able to get him off the crane.

A public defender representing Roland did not return a call seeking comment on Wednesday.