A man with a history of mental health issues accused of stabbing a housemate to death four months after his release from a psychiatric ward was suffering the "most severe" form of obsessive compulsive disorder at the time and should be convicted of manslaughter rather than murder on grounds of diminished responsibility, the Central Criminal Court has heard.
Sean Murphy (29) with an address at Bradóg Court, St Lawrence Road, Clontarf, Dublin 3, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Michael Olohan (35) at the apartment they shared on St Lawrence Road on August 13th, 2020. Mr Olohan is originally from Poppintree in Ballymun, north Dublin.
The jury has been told that the accused was 25 at the time of the killing while Mr Olohan was 35. They lived together at Bradóg Court in a "step-down independent living facility" run by St Vincent's Hospital Psychiatric Services.
Mental Health issues
Both men had mental health issues and while they were provided with medication at the complex, they were "free to go about their business as they pleased", said Ronan Kennedy SC, prosecuting, to the jury in his opening speech.
Mr Kennedy said there will be no dispute that Mr Murphy caused Mr Olohan's death and the issue for the jury to decide is the mental capacity of the accused at the time.
At the Central Criminal Court on Friday, a consultant psychiatrist called by the defence, Professor Keith Rix told Michael O'Higgins SC, defending, that in his opinion, Mr Murphy was suffering with a "most severe" case of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) at the time of Mr Olohan's death.
Prof Rix told Mr O'Higgins that it was his opinion that Mr Murphy, at the time of Mr Olohan's death, was suffering with mental illness and that he believed the accused did not qualify for a not guilty verdict by reason of insanity because there was the possibility that Mr Murphy could have refrained from his actions on the day.
"His [Mr Murphy's] OCD could not have been more severe in that he was completely lacking in insight, but I am not persuaded he was unable to refrain from the act of killing," Prof Rix told Mr O'Higgins.
Prof Rix said that there was a "problem" with the not guilty by reason of insanity verdict in that Mr Murphy "made a number of statements that he was able to refrain - ten examples - when logical thinking won over. He [Murphy] found it difficult to resist but it was possible".
Prof Rix said that there was "strong evidence of OCD and a significant component of that was a persistent, unwelcome obsessional thought that if he [Mr Murphy] did not kill someone he would go to hell for infinity".
Psychosis
Prof Rix said this did not fit the type of psychosis that would see someone take the life of another in a "callous" fashion.
"The last thing he [Mr Murphy] wanted to do was kill Michael because he had feelings for Michael but had persistent intrusive thoughts about going through eternal hell or of his mother causing bad things to happen if he did not," said Prof Rix, who added that Mr Murphy had the illness since childhood.
Prof Rix said that Mr Murphy had said in an interview that the accused "always believed that he would never do it".
Concerning the night of the stabbing, Prof Rix said Mr Murphy said he "wanted to know if the fear was real" and had already planned the killing the previous month when lying in bed but was "constantly trying to stop himself".
“I was always resisting,” Mr Murphy told Prof Rix.
Prof Rix said that Mr Murphy told him he took a knife into Mr Olohan's room on the night and watched him sleeping but that "all the bad things that were happening", "there was so much agony" and "I’m not an evil bastard".
Prof Rix said that Mr Murphy had said that he wanted to "end" the bad thoughts by killing Mr Olohan and that "even if it wasn't true, the ongoing ordeal would be over."
Prof Rix said that the struggle in Mr Murphy meant there had been a possibility of the accused to "refrain" his actions and that in the absence of a diagnosis of psychosis it was his opinion the stabbing amounted to the lesser charge of manslaughter because of Mr Murphy's diminished responsibility in the killing due to his severe OCD.
Mr O'Higgins asked Prof Rix to put the severity of Mr Murphy's OCD on a scale of one to five to which Prof Rix replied "five - it's one of the most severe cases of OCD that I’ve encountered in psychiatry since 1976".
The court has been told that at about 7.10am on August 13,th2020, Mr Murphy entered Mr Olohan's unlocked bedroom where Mr Olohan was asleep and attacked Mr Olohan with a fish-filleting knife.
Mr Olohan suffered three stab wounds to the chest and when he awoke he managed to fend off Mr Murphy by grabbing the knife, leaving Mr Olohan with defensive injuries to his hands.
Mr Kennedy has said Mr Murphy left the apartment while Mr Olohan, leaving a trail of blood behind him, walked to a rear garden within the complex where he collapsed and died despite the efforts of staff at the facility and paramedics.
Mr Murphy then went to Clontarf Garda Station at 7.26am and told a garda that he should be arrested because he had stabbed someone.
Gda Michelle O'Sullivan has told the trial that Mr Murphy's clothes were bloodstained and that she noticed that he was wearing odd socks and no shoes.
Sick thoughts
Gda O'Sullivan told the jury that Mr Murphy didn't appear to show any emotion and that he told her he had "sick thoughts" and that he "got a bad thought to stab Michael... even though he didn't want to do it".
Mr Kennedy said the accused later told gardai during interviews that he bought the knife "for the purpose of stabbing someone" and identified himself on CCTV footage buying the knife at a shop on Wicklow St in Dublin on July 6th, five weeks before the stabbing.
Forensic gardaí at the scene found a knife on the bed with a bent blade and blood on the handle. Mr Kennedy said they formed the opinion that "some force" was used to bend the blade and there was a possibility that the blade had been wiped clean.
Counsel said there is no dispute that Mr Murphy had an active mental disorder at the time that was "damaging his state of mind".
He said the issue for the jury to determine is whether Mr Murphy should be found not guilty by reason of insanity or not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility.
On Monday, Dr Ronan Mullaney will be called by the prosecution as an expert witness and, the court has heard, will say that Mr Murphy was suffering from "particularly severe symptoms of obsessive compulsive disorder" and before, during and after the killing he had psychotic symptoms.
The court has been told that on the balance of probabilities, Dr Mullaney does not believe that Mr Murphy would have appreciated that he was delusional and was "unable to resist the compulsion to kill" by Mr Kennedy.
Dr Mullaney, in his report, says that he considers Mr Murphy to have been legally insane at the time and that the appropriate verdict is one of not guilty by reason of insanity.
The trial continues before Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring and a jury of six men and six women.
