North Shore stabbings: Man found not guilty by reason of insanity, says devil told him to attack people

The scene in Murrays Bay after the stabbing accused was subdued by bystanders. Photo / RNZ

A schizophrenic man who stabbed four people on Auckland’s North Shore told police he was trying to hasten the end of a spiritual war between Jesus, Satan and himself.

The 41-year-old, whose identity is suppressed, was found not guilty by reason of insanity in the Auckland District Court this morning.

Armed with a large kitchen knife, the man went from one house to another and on the streets, stabbing four victims before passersby took him down in what police have called a show of extreme bravery.

He attacked two others who escaped unharmed.

After his arrest, he told police Jesus had rejected him and he heard the devil’s voice telling him to attack people.

The man believed he was involved in a 300-year war between Jesus and Satan, Judge Pippa Sinclair said in court, reading from an agreed summary of facts.

But if he started the war himself and committed the acts the devil ordered he could hasten the end of the war, she said.

The court heard he had a long history of mental illness and had been admitted into psychiatric care 13 times since 2002.

He was reported to be in remission and had just come out of a compulsory treatment order in mid-2022 when he offended.

He later told police he was not taking his medication and hadn’t slept for four nights.

Two forensic psychologists found he was suffering a schizophrenic relapse at the time, with serious delusions, hallucinations, catatonia and depression.

Judge Sinclair said he was nevertheless aware he stabbed four people and hurt them, although his delusions provided moral justification for his actions.

“I conclude that given the severity of delusion he was experiencing, he was incapable of understanding the moral wrongfulness of his actions when he stabbed the people,” she said.

Attacker stopped by man with crutch

The multiple stabbings rocked the normally quiet Murrays Bay and Mairangi Bay suburbs in Auckland on June 23 last year.

The first victim was at home in Murrays Bay when she heard her doorbell ring.

She opened the door and saw the man holding a 20cm-long knife above his head, before he stabbed her in the chest. She tried to fend off further blows and suffered a cut on the ring finger.

He then ran to a second victim, who dodged his blows unharmed.

A third victim was on the road when he ran up and stabbed her in the back. He continued, running to a park bench where he stabbed a couple - one on the back and another on the shoulder.

He ran again and lunged towards a sixth victim, who fled to a boat ramp and screamed to get the attention of people nearby.

The attacker ran to adjacent Mairangi Bay, where he was finally stopped by a witness who hit him with a crutch and restrained him until police arrived.

“There were members of the public that acted in extreme bravery, they apprehended the offender and brought this incident to its conclusion,” Waitematā district commander Superintendent Naila Hassan told media after his arrest.

Then 41, he was charged with four counts of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, and two charges of assault with a knife.

One of the victims was a neighbour and passing acquaintance of the man, and he did not know the other five.

Judge Sinclair pronounced him fit to stand trial in December last year, and he entered pleas of not guilty by reason of insanity the same day.

On Friday, his lawyer Anoushka Bloem applied for permanent name suppression and he remains in remand at the Mason Clinic until the matter is to be heard in May.