TAURANGA - Ethiopian refugee who stabbed two women shoppers at The Warehouse firmly believed he had to kill in order to live, the High Court at Rotorua was told yesterday.
Fantahun Tadesse Molla, 25, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to attempting to murder Palmerston North woman Tracey Brindhaban and her mother, Laraine Horscroft, on October 24, 2000.
Molla was an undiagnosed paranoid schizophrenic who was legally insane at the time, three forensic psychiatrists told the court.
He had a mental illness that probably began before he arrived in New Zealand from Sudan, Wellington-based forensic psychiatrist Dr David Chaplow said.
Dr Chaplow said Molla experienced delusions, auditory hallucinations (hearing voices) occasional paranoia and violent outbreaks that indicated a schizophrenia-like illness.
Months later, Molla remained unshaken in the belief that he had to kill in order to live, Dr Chaplow said. But he was able to see what he had done was wrong and was contrite.
"He attributed his illness to bad spirits and used alcohol and marijuana to settle himself down," he said.
On the day he attacked the two women, Molla pleaded with Work and Income workers and Greerton police to send him back to Ethiopia as the Mongrel Mob were out to kill him, but fled on foot before he could be helped.
In his psychotic state, the accused had come to believe that his landlady, Aputa Kingi, the police and Work and Income were also plotting to kill him.
He then made his way to Pak 'N' Save and on to The Warehouse, where he was stalked through the aisles by "shadows" and voices in his head told him: "Kill somebody lest you be killed."
In prison, Molla began seeing things at night and was very afraid. He was better on medication, but at times had become depressed and wanted to kill himself.
"His illness probably goes back to age 19, when he left Ethiopia for Sudan due to the civil war and began to exhibit symptoms suggestive of mental illness," Dr Chaplow explained.
Molla's alcohol and drug use was significant, but was unlikely to be to be instrumental in any violence. However, it had probably worsened his paranoid symptoms. There were ample grounds to believe the accused suffered from a psychotic illness.
Under cross-examination from defence counsel Tony Balme, Dr Chaplow said the accused man's psychotic symptoms had persisted despite medication and that he would require on-going support and review.
Dr Kadeem Majeed of the Henry Bennett Centre in Hamilton agreed with Dr Chaplow, saying Molla was delusional and believed he was possessed by spirits.
On the day of the stabbings, Molla stated clearly that he heard voices telling him the Mongrel Mob were going to kill him.
"He saw several members of the public who he thought were members of the Mongrel Mob," Dr Majeed told the court.
Molla had thought he was stabbing an elderly man when he attacked Mrs Brindhaban, Dr Majeed said.
Associate Professor Philip Brinsted, of Christchurch, interviewed Molla on December 19, 2000.
The accused was a city-dwelling Ethiopian with four brothers and two sisters. At 16 years old, Molla had decided to join family who had already moved to Sudan, but was instead forced to fight with the revolutionary army in the front line.
Three years later, the war ended and Molla was allowed to leave.
After arriving in New Zealand, Molla began drinking heavily to conceal his psychiatric problems.
In Prof Brinsted's opinion, Molla suffered from a slowly developing paranoid disorder, probably schizophrenia. The accused man's use of alcohol and marijuana may have accelerated his mental illness, he added.
The case is expected to end on Thursday.
- BAY OF PLENTY TIMES
Warehouse stabbing accused legally insane, court told
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