Billings Man Found Unfit to Stand Trial

A state judge says a Billings man who was found near Livingston bound with a bag over his head is mentally unfit to stand trial on a charge of tampering with evidence.

The Livingston Enterprise reports District Judge Nels Swandal committed 52-year-old Lionel Scott Ellison to the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services for placement in an "appropriate facility" to see if his mental state improves enough to proceed to trial.

Prosecutors allege in July 2010, Ellison claimed to have been kidnapped and raped after being found with a bag over his head and his hands and feet bound. At the time, he faced sentencing for violating a protective order.

In May 2008, Ellison claimed someone threw him in the Yellowstone River the day before he was to be sentenced for arson.