Man accused of killing Christie Marceau judged insane

Akshay Anand Chand (right) was declared not guilty but insane over the death of Christie Marceau. Photos/ File

The man charged with murdering Auckland teenager Christie Marceau has been found not guilty by reason of insanity.

And he will be detained in a mental health facility until the Minister of Health deems him no longer a danger to the public - which may never occur.

Akshay Chand stabbed Christie to death in her North Shore home in November.

The Herald has not been able to report the details in the past due to suppression orders.

But those were lifted today by Justice Helen Winkelmann in the High Court at Auckland.

After hearing from two leading psychiatric experts she found Chand insane at the time he killed Christie. He knew he had killed and he had planned it, she said, but due to his mental disease - an early stage of schizophrenia - he did not know what he was doing was morally wrong.

The court heart that Chand stabbed Christie repeatedly in the head, neck and torso after pushing past her mother and chasing her out onto a deck. He attacked Christie as she tried to unlatch a gate to escape.

He said a voice told him to kill Christie and he felt compelled to do it.

Chand earlier pleaded guilty to kidnapping and assaulting Christie several months before she died. He will be sentenced on those charges in the High Court tomorrow.

He was taken into custody by the Mason Clinic last night.