Mentally ill man killed 'possessed' uncle

A mentally ill man who killed his uncle because he believed he was possessed by the devil was found guilty but insane at the Central Criminal Court today.

John McInerney, 52, from Bell Harbour, Co Clare, was charged with the murder of 82-year-old Sean Daly on April 30 last year.

The jury heard evidence that McInerney was a schizophrenic who had been admitted to psychiatric hospitals on 16 different occasions. On the night before the murder, he became extremely restless when he heard noises in the street outside the home he shared with his uncle and his elderly mother.

He believed the devil was trying to break into the house and armed himself with an axe and a stick with eight notches, which he believed had special powers.

In the morning he was still disturbed and wanted to go to a nearby Friary to explain the experience he had.

His mother became alarmed and left the house, where Sean Daly was still sleeping in bed. McInerney then carried out a frenzied attack on the elderly man, using a hand axe, a splitting axe, the stick with eight notches and a pitchfork.

He told a neighbour afterwards: “I had to do it, I had to do it, the devil was in him.”

After a one-hour trial, the jury returned an instant verdict of guilty but insane. Mr Justice Paul Carney ordered that McInerney be detained in the Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum, Co Dublin.

McInerney was arrested on the day of the murder and brought to Limerick prison. He was assessed there by two doctors and transferred to the central mental hospital the next day.

The jury heard evidence from Dr Henry Gerard Kennedy, who is a forensic psychiatrist and also the clinical director of the hospital. He interviewed McInerney and examined his records at the hospital and photocopies of his records from the local hospital in Ennis, Co Clare.

Dr Kennedy said McInerney had schizophrenia, which was the most severe of all mental illnesses. He said it affected up to one person in every thousand of the population and caused a severe impairment of mental facilities.

“It leads to delusion and hallucinations and hearing voices when there’s nobody there.

“It’s characterised also by an instability of emotional life, not connecting with what’s going on in the real world,” he said.

He said at the time of the murder McInerney was severely ill, deluded, quite probably hallucinating and in a disturbed emotional state.

Senior counsel for the defence Patrick McEntee, asked Dr Kennedy what McInerney’s mental capacity was at the time of the murder.

“He was labouring under a defect of reason from disease of the mind, the disease being schizophrenia.”

He added that the 52-year-old believed he was doing something right by killing his uncle as he thought his uncle was possessed by the devil.

“He was in such a mental state because of his delusional beliefs that he could not think of any alternative possibility,” said Dr Kennedy.

He added that McInerney had attacked his uncle with a variety of blows. “The extent of the blows is something you see in someone who is in a highly aroused emotional estate, when far more force is used than is necessary.”

Mr McEntee asked him if it would have been possible for McInerney to stop carrying out the attack on his uncle. “I think his capacity to do so was tantamount to being absent,” said Dr Kennedy.

McInerney had disappeared from his home one month before the killing. On St Patrick’s Day neighbours found him standing on a high altar of a ruined monastery holding a pitch fork and a can of “holy water”.

Dr Kennedy said McInerney had been trying to ward off the devil and had been admitted to a psychiatric hospital that day. He was released on April 14 and his condition deteriorated.

He became worried about his dog which he believed to be possessed by the devil. He killed the dog with similar implements to those used in the killing of Sean Daly.

He also began a ritual of placing an axe under the hold bible so that its special religious power would enter the weapon.

Dr Kennedy said that he did not believe McInerney was deceiving him about his condition. He told the jury that the man was now taking a large number of medications including antidepressants, anti-psychotic drugs and tranquillisers.

Gerard Kearns who lived in a house 150 yards away said he had been called to the scene by McInerney’s mother.

“She said she thought John had killed Jack (Sean),” he said.

He brought McInerney into his house and called the gardaí. McInerney then arrived at the house in a distressed state, looking for his mother.

“Oh sure he was nowhere. He was trembling like a leaf and there was all blood on his clothes and shoes,” said Mr Kearns.

“He hadn’t a clue what it was. Just as long as his mother was safe, he was happy.”

He told Mr McEntee there was not a doubt in his mind that McInerney did not know what he was doing or saying. Mr McEntee told the jury that all the evidence pointed towards the fact the McInerney was legally insane.

He said it was a tragic case in which McInerney had killed his own uncle who had moved into the house to protect him after his father died.

The jury should not be concerned that a guilty but insane verdict would allow McInerney to be released prematurely from the central mental hospital.

“They (the patients) will be detained there until such time as ever they cease to be a danger to themselves and others,” he said.

Mr Justice Paul Carney said the usual murder trial would run for three weeks and his concluding address would last for two hours. But he noted that this case was different.

After his short address outlining the option, the jury found McInerney guilty but insane.