An Addison man charged with killing his mother and a prostitute in 2006 will be allowed extra time in the county jail’s law library to help prepare for his defense, a DuPage County judge ruled Thursday.

Gary Schuning, 25, will be permitted to spend six hours each week in the library at the Wheaton jail, instead of the one hour normally allowed for inmates. Circuit Judge John Kinsella said Schuning will be able to start using his extra access Sept. 15, unless it will create any problems for jail officials.

“The jail will have time between now and then to notify the court of any concerns they have,” Kinsella said.

In addition to helping his attorneys prepare for his death penalty trial, Schuning wanted the extra time to work toward a paralegal degree through a correspondence course.

While he did not bar Schuning from working on the course, Kinsella emphasized that the primary reason for the addition library time is to allow Schuning to understand the legal proceedings against him.

Assistant state’s attorney Tim Diamond objected to the concession, noting that Schuning has been involved in several conflicts with other inmates while awaiting trial, including one in the law library.

Diamond also questioned Schuning’s choice to spend about $800 per class for a correspondence course while being represented by two attorneys who are paid for by taxpayers.

In addition to a private attorney, Schuning’s defense team includes two court-appointed public defenders.

“He apparently has access to some money that may be better spent paying for his defense,” Diamond said.

After stabbing his mother, Doris Pagliaro, 40, to death at their home at 316 S. Yale St. on Feb. 26, 2006, Schuning called for a prostitute to be sent to the home, authorities said. An escort service sent 21-year-old Kristi Hoenig, of Chicago, several hours after Pagliaro’s death.

Schuning then stabbed Hoenig to death after she found the bloody knife, authorities said.

He later confessed to the murders, but his lawyers say statements he made to police while in the hospital being treated for self-inflicted stab wounds and a subsequent videotaped statement should not be allowed as evidence in the case. Kinsella has not ruled on that motion.