Danny Sherman, the Wareham man accused of fatally stabbing his wife, Mardiette Deboyes, in their Rose Point home in late March, pleaded “not guilty” to murder and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon on Tuesday morning. 

In May, Bridgewater State Hospital petitioned for an order of incompetence, meaning that Sherman was not fit to stand trial. That order has since expired, although Sherman will be reevaluated.

On March 27, Wareham police were called to a waterway by Route 6 in Wareham following reports of a distressed man in a canoe at 8:15 a.m. 

The 54-year-old man, later identified as Sherman, was taken to Tobey Hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries. 

Shortly thereafter, according to Rose Point residents, Wareham and Marion Police cruisers and an ambulance pulled into Woodbridge Avenue, a quiet dirt road in Rose Point, a cluster of homes on a point of land jutting into the Weweantic River just north of Route 6.

According to the district attorney’s office, officers “found a 57-year-old female unresponsive” at 3 Woodbridge Ave. The woman, later identified as Deboyes, was pronounced dead at the scene. State Police were called in to help with the investigation.

Police determined that Sherman lived with the woman, and allege that he stabbed her. Sherman was arrested later that afternoon. 

Sherman was arraigned in Brockton Superior Court on July 14, and has entered a not guilty plea. 

He is currently being held in Bridgewater State Hospital without bail. 

According to prosecutor Shanan Buckingham, Bridgewater State Hospital petitioned for an order of incompetence in early May, suggesting that Sherman was not mentally fit to stand trial. 

That petition is now considered “stale” by the court, but Sherman has been ordered to undergo another competency evaluation.

Defense attorney Frank Spillane explained that the Bridgewater State Hospital previously determined that Sherman was incompetent, and that the hospital would be responsible for a re-evaluation. 

Spillane did not specify whether he intends to argue that Sherman is not guilty by reason of insanity.

According to family members of Sherman who wished to remain anonymous, Sherman suffered from some type of mental illness and had been “institutionalized” twice prior to the incident on March 27.

The relatives did not specify where Sherman was institutionalized, but suggested that he was released without receiving adequate treatment or rehabilitation, and was likely to be mentally unstable. 

They also said that Sherman and his late wife had been happily married. 

Sherman’s next court appearance has been scheduled for September 2 in Plymouth Superior Court.