Accused thought he was chosen 'to do God's work', court told

A mentally ill man killed his father because he thought he was "a prime mover in a conspiracy to destroy the world", a murder trial jury was told today.

Kevin Parker was also convinced he was "the saviour of the second coming" and said he had been selected at a religious meeting "to do God's work" before he killed his father, the jury at the Central Criminal Court was told.

Prosecution counsel Kenneth Mills SC told the jury Kevin Parker was mentally ill and had delusions at the time of the attack, and they must decide if a verdict of "guilty but insane" was appropriate.

Kevin Parker, aged 45, of Montree House in Athlone, Co Westmeath, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of his father John Parker, aged 75, at Glasson Village near Athlone between September 28 and 29 in 2000.

The court heard John Parker died after receiving 65 stab wounds, believed to be from someone in "a deranged state".

Mr Mills said he would be producing witnesses who would testify that Kevin Parker was seriously mentally unwell at the time of the attack.

"He believed, due to the influence of others, he was going to be the saviour of the second coming and his father was in a group of persons whose design was to destroy the world unless they were stopped," Mr Mills said.

"It was brought about by the accused suffering from a mental condition in that the saving of the world could occur by the death of his father, who was a prime mover in a campaign to destroy the world."

Patrick Walsh, a childhood friend of Kevin Parker, said he saw him a month before the attack and he had changed from a "happy, go-lucky" character into a dishevelled man who quoted from the bible at random and was reluctant to stop doing so when asked.

"He said he had been at some religious meeting where not only he, but someone else, had seen an aura behind him and he had been selected to do God's work," Mr Walsh said.

Kevin Parker's sister, Lucy Walsh, told the court he "had the idea that people were ganging up against him" and he was "the chosen one" and had some work to do.

Tom McMahon, a workmate of Kevin Parker's who saw him at Clover Hill prison following his father's death, said he told him "it was either him or me" during the visit.

The court heard Parker had been receiving psychiatric treatment for some time before the attack and had been in and out of several psychiatric hospitals. He had sometimes lived with his father, who was described as "a lovely man (who was) always in good spirits".

The trial, before Mr Justice Kevin O'Higgins and a jury of seven women and five men, continues tomorrow.