Did You Know That Some Shared Delusions Have Ended In Killings?

Untreated Mental Illness Has Been Linked To Extreme Violence

Sentencing Such An Offender Is A Special Challenge For Courts

That Is Even Tougher When A Judge Finds The Illness Hard To Believe

One Forensic Psychiatrist Called The Condition Bizarre And Uncommon

He Wrote About Two People Charged Over The Same Killing

Their Sentences Came Out Very Different

THIS NEWSLETTER IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. NOTHING IN THIS CONTENT CONSTITUTES MEDICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, OR PROFESSIONAL ADVICE. ALWAYS CONSULT A QUALIFIED HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL BEFORE MAKING ANY HEALTH RELATED DECISIONS.

OKAY BACK FROM THE POLICE STATION 🚔

In 2001 An Australian Mother And Her Son Moved Near Sydney

A Year Later A New Family Moved Onto The Neighboring Property

At First The Two Families Got Along Well

The Mother Later Said Her Mental Health Began To Decline In 2008

In 2010 The Neighbor Offered To Buy Her Property

She Turned Down The Offer

Over Time She Came To Believe He Was Part Of The Criminal Underworld

She Believed He Was Persecuting Her And Her Son

In April 2011 A Mental Health Nurse Visited Their Home

The Nurse Recorded Similar Delusions In The Son

He Believed His Mother Would Be Murdered If He Was Not There

In The Year Before The Killing They Lived By Candlelight

On 6 December 2012 They Confronted An Electrician At The Boundary

The Son Fired Two Arrows Toward A Group Of Men

Police Came To Arrest Him For Firing The Arrows

Mother And Son Had Gone Back Inside The House

One Officer Forced Open The Back Door With His Boot

The Son Stabbed A Police Inspector Twice

Ambulance Officers Took The Inspector To A Hospital Where He Died

At The Police Station The Son Said They Had Been Ambushed

The Mother And Son Were Both First Charged With Murder

In Custody The Mother Was Diagnosed With Persecutory Delusions

The Prosecution Accepted That She Was Psychotic At The Time

She Pleaded Guilty To Manslaughter

Her Son Had The Same Beliefs With The Same Intensity

Prosecutors Still Refused To Accept His Plea To Manslaughter

They Argued His Condition Was Derived From His Mother's Illness

Prosecutors Also Said It Had Not Taken Away All His Reasoning

Two Psychiatrists For His Side Said He Could Plead Mental Illness

The Prosecution's Psychiatrist Agreed He Had A Delusional Disorder

He Pleaded Guilty To Murder On The Day His Trial Was Due To Start

Prosecutors Conceded He Had A Significant Cognitive Impairment

That Meant The Mandatory Life Sentence Did Not Apply

The Judge Found He Began Adopting His Mother's Beliefs At About 17

In The Judge's View Their Closeness And Isolation Explained Why

The Mother Was Ordered To Serve At Least 7 Years And 6 Months

Her Son Was Ordered To Serve At Least 26 Years

In 2016 An Appeal Court Cut His Minimum To 15 Years

The Forensic Psychiatrist Argued The Appeal Was Still Very Strict

Doctors At A Forensic Service In New Zealand Reported Five Cases

Three Of The Pairs Were Husbands And Wives

One Was A Mother And Daughter And One Was Twin Brothers

None Of Them Had A Past Psychiatric Or Criminal History

Yet In Every Case The Victim Died Or Nearly Died

Every Pair Shared Religious Delusions Of Some Kind

The Authors Said Such Pairs Can Be A Very High Risk Within A Family

Doctors In Marseille Reviewed Cases Of Folie A Deux And Homicide

They Included Seventeen Articles In Their Review

The Killings They Found Were Committed With Great Violence

Usually The Victim Was Someone In The Family Circle

Some Of The Killings Were Followed By Suicide

The Main Risk Was Mystical And Persecutory Delusions Together

They Found The Killings Occurred After The Pair Was Destabilized

The Same Team Studied A Husband And Wife Who Killed A Child

Four Expert Reports Pointed To Induced Psychosis In That Case

The Authors Said Psychiatrists Need To Know The Condition Better

That Would Let Them Spot Risky Situations Early