A mentally ill man accused of killing his father in a frenzied knife attack because he thought he was the devil was too deluded to stop himself, a court heard yesterday.
Mr Kevin Parker (45), who was convinced he was God's chosen avenger, was in the grip of unshakeable delusions when he stabbed his father repeatedly in the face and neck, two psychiatrists told a murder trial at the Central Criminal Court.
Mr Parker had previously told a workmate his father was the leader of a satanic "coven of witches" and had told his doctor in 1999 he would have to kill his dad, who he believed was plotting to end the world, the court heard.
The State Pathologist, Dr John Harbison, told the court that Mr Parker's father, John, died from loss of blood from numerous stab wounds, including more than 20 to his face and neck.
He also had several wounds on his hands where he had tried to protect himself from a knife attack, Dr Harbison said.
The wounds were consistent with being inflicted by someone in a "deranged or agitated state" because many were not aimed at vital organs.
Mr Kevin Parker, of Montree House, Athlone, Co Westmeath, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of John Parker (75) at Glasson near Athlone between September 28th and 29th, 2000.
The court heard that after his arrest Mr Parker told gardaí he had entered his father's house, grabbed a knife, then walked up to him and stabbed him as he was watching a football match on television. He told gardaí he had earlier got a message from the Bible telling him to kill the devil or see a priest.
The jury heard that Mr Parker had been suffering from a mental illness, which was eventually diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenia, since at least 1997 and had been in and out of psychiatric hospitals.
But he had refused to take his anti-psychotic medication for about six months before the killing because of its sexual side-effects. This allowed his satanic and religious delusions involving his father and his former girlfriends to flourish, and he had taken to living in the attic of his house, the jury heard.
A forensic psychiatrist, Dr Harry Kennedy, told the court Mr Parker's delusions were still present when he interviewed him not long after the killing, and he had told him: "I killed my father because he was the devil and it came upon me to do it."
Under questioning from Mr Martin Giblin SC, defending, Dr Kennedy said it was common for such delusions to involve those closest to the sufferer and they often took on religious themes.