Accused says God told him to kill his father
Al Aalak `lost in that psychotic world' at time of homicide, says psychiatrist
Confessed killer Zaineddin Al Aalak was in a psychotic state when he strangled his father and later dismembered his body, a forensic psychiatrist testified Wednesday.
Dr. Sergio Santana said the fact Al Aalak believed he was being commanded by God to take his father's life made him even more susceptible to his delusional state.
“There are voices that are more difficult to ignore,” Santana told Al Aalak's Calgary jury trial.
“The voice of God is very difficult to ignore for somebody that is lost into this delusional system.”
Al Aalak, 24, is charged with second-degree murder and causing an indignity to a body in connection with his father's strangulation and dismemberment.
Testifying on Monday, Al Aalak admitted striking his father in the head with a hammer, punching him repeatedly and then choking him to death.
He then placed his father's body in a freezer and went to bed. The following day he retrieved a circular saw from his father's residence and returned to the townhouse he shared with his mother and sisters, who were away in Iraq, and carved up the body.
The remains, including Mohammed Al Aalak's decapitated head, were discovered at a construction site in Okotoks, south of the city.
Santana testified there were signs, based on reports from family members, that the accused began experiencing psychotic episodes as early as the age of 16, when the family lived in Hamilton.
He said they became more severe in the summer of 2016, and controlled his behaviour at the time he killed his father.
Defence lawyer Alain Hepner wants jurors to find Al Aalak not criminally responsible by reason of a mental disorder.
Santana said testing indicated Al Aalak wasn't malingering, or faking his delusions, which the accused said came in the form of telepathic messages, which first led him to believe he was a god, and later a prophet.
The doctor said Al Aalak believed he was carrying out “God's plan” when he said he was told his father was an evil impostor at the townhouse to kill him.
“He was lost in that psychotic world at the time,” Santana said.
“He was being commanded by God.”
The psychiatrist said while Al Aalak was aware he was taking another life, he didn't consider it wrong.
“His father was an evil being that acted for no reason other than he was evil,” Santana said.
“He didn't think what he was doing was wrong.”
Santana concluded that Al Aalak would qualify for a not criminally responsible defence.
Crown prosecutor Carla Macphail will cross-examine Santana on Thursday.