KELOWNA, B.C. — A murder trial started Monday in Kelowna where the question isn’t ‘who’ did it, but rather ‘why’.
That answer may never come.
Conor Frederick Grossmith, 26, is charged with second-degree murder for the bludgeoning death of his 57 year old mother about two years ago.
The only real issue to be decided is Grossmith’s state of mind at the time of the killing.
The trial will hear from just three witnesses, all psychiatrists, who are expected to testify Grossmith was legally insane because of a psychotic episode.
Grossmith’s lawyer says his client is not criminally responsible because of a mental disorder.
Grossmith walked into his mother’s bedroom September 13, 2012 and crushed her skull with repeated blows from a hammer.
Grossmith’s father, Harry Grossmith, made frantic 9-1-1 calls reporting what his son had done to his wife. He desperately pleaded for an ambulance.
“My son is psychotic and he just hit my wife with a hammer.” Why would he hit your wife? Asked the operator. “Because he was out of his mind.”
Conor Grossmith was very drunk and his defence lawyer says Grossmith may not have been taking his medications for bi-polar disorder and anxiety.
“What we have here is a pre-existing, well documented psychosis which has bubbled up, if you will. Whether or not he’s been drinking, whether or not he’s on meds,” says defence lawyer Joe Gordon.
The prosecution agrees with Gordon that this is a murder that fits the insanity defence.
Three psychiatrists are expected to testify this week that Grossmith was indeed legally insane when he bludgeoned his mother.
If the judge agrees, then he will be placed in a psychiatric hospital for the rest of his life, according to Gordon.
He adds Grossmith would be subject to an annual review to see if he is safe to release.
On the day of the killing, Conor Grossmith reported to his substance abuse councillor that he had recently been blacking out after drinking alcohol.
On night of the killing, the family drank five and a half litres of wine between the three of them.
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