Killer tried to conceal his crime, trial hears
Consistent with psychosis: defence
Seemingly rational steps taken by confessed killer Zaineddin Al Aalak after strangling his father don't affect a diagnosis that he was psychotic at the time, a psychiatrist said Thursday.
Crown prosecutor Carla Macphail grilled Dr. Sergio Santana on whether Al Aalak's conduct in dismembering his father's body, disposing of it on a construction site where it might be buried, and cleaning up the scene suggested rational thought. But Santana insisted those steps weren't inconsistent with his finding that Al Aalak did not believe what he was doing was wrong when he killed his father, Mohamed, in July 2017.
Defence lawyer Alain Hepner wants a Calgary jury to find Al Aalak not criminally responsible by reason of a mental disorder for killing his father when the victim visited the son's southeast home.
Al Aalak, 24, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of his father, 53, as well as a charge of causing an indignity to a body by dismembering the corpse.
Al Aalak testified God told him to kill his father, who he believed was actually an impostor who intended to kill the accused. He said he was then told to cut up the body and put it where it could be found.
But Macphail suggested a construction site, where garbage is routinely buried by vehicles grading the land, would not be a logical location if his intention was that it be discovered.
“I suggest that makes his actions less bizarre,” the prosecutor said.
“What's bizarre is his actions in which he was instructed to do so,” Santana said. “What he tells me is he was just following the instructions of God,” he said.
“He didn't make any efforts to bury them because he was instructed to just leave them there … he was supposed to leave those parts where they could be found.”
Macphail also noted Al Aalak carefully cleaned up the scene, washing walls and towels he used while cutting up the corpse.
“Do you agree with me that it's unusual for someone to clean up a scene when they're in a psychotic state?” Macphail said.
“Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't,” Santana said.
The doctor said Al Aalak claimed he was receiving messages telepathically, which is consistent with schizophrenia.