Background: The Bulloch County Jail building in Statesboro, Ga. (Google Maps). Insets (left to right): Robert Brandon Keller before he removed his eyeballs and after (Bulloch County Sheriff”s Office).
A troubling case in Georgia has taken a shocking turn as a man charged with murder has been deemed mentally fit to face trial despite a disturbing incident of self-harm while in custody. Robert Brandon Keller, aged 32, is accused in the brutal slaying of 43-year-old Bruce Dupree. Dupree was discovered with multiple stab wounds on the side of an interstate in Bulloch County, Georgia, on October 14, 2024, and was pronounced dead shortly after his discovery, as reported by the Statesboro Herald.
Authorities were led to Keller after an employee at a local establishment, Pojo’s, noticed him with blood on his hands and cash. This evidence quickly resulted in his arrest. Keller faces multiple charges, including two counts of murder, armed robbery, hijacking a motor vehicle, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm or knife during a felony. Throughout the proceedings, he has consistently been denied bond.
In a shocking development, Keller inflicted severe injuries on himself while in jail, removing both of his eyeballs and biting off part of his tongue. This led to a court-mandated competency hearing to assess his mental state and ability to stand trial. Psychologists Dr. Jeremy Gay and Dr. Daniel Fass conducted a thorough evaluation, interviewing Keller to determine his mental competence and criminal accountability.
Despite the extreme nature of his self-inflicted injuries, both psychologists concluded that Keller remains competent for trial. They highlighted that these acts of self-mutilation occurred after the alleged crime, suggesting they do not impact his mental state at the time of the offense. Dr. Gay elaborated that Keller was neither experiencing a delusional compulsion nor was he unable to discern right from wrong during the incident in question.
According to court documents obtained by Law&Crime, Keller removed both of his eyes and “[bit] off a portion of his tongue” while he was in custody. A competency hearing was ordered, and two psychologists, Dr. Jeremy Gay and Dr. Daniel Fass, conducted an interview with Keller to evaluate his criminal responsibility.
Both doctors concluded that despite Keller’s dramatic acts of self-harm, he was competent to stand trial. Gay and Fass stated that the disturbing nature of the self-mutilation “happened after the alleged criminal activity.” Dr. Gay stated that Keller “was not suffering from either a delusional compulsion at the time of the crime or an inability to distinguish right and wrong at the time of the crime.”
Dr. Fass also stated that when he evaluated Keller in April 2025, the murder suspect did not show “symptoms of a severe, persistent medical illness like bipolar disorder or schizophrenia.” He went as far as to say that Keller’s “intellectual functioning” and ability to answer questions in court “were much better than a lot of the people he evaluates.”
According to the documents, two jailers who testified at the competency hearing on Jan. 27 said Keller told them “he was not mental, and that he said he heard voices to cover his ass.”
Dr. Gay and Dr. Fass ruled that Keller was competent to stand trial in an order filed on Feb. 10. His trial date has not yet been scheduled.
