Alleged killer a severe psychotic, court told
An insurance executive on trial for killing his mother is a paranoid schizophrenic and likely had no idea what he was doing at the time of the murder, a court heard yesterday.
'He was at the most severe end of the spectrum with a full range of psychotic symptoms,' said Dominic Lee Tak-shing, a professor in the School of Public Health at Chinese University. 'He lost his insight and was completely taken over by the illness.'
Professor Lee testified about Wang Zhejun's mental state before the brutal chopper attack on Zhan Qiuxia, 62, at the executive's luxury 27th-floor flat in Wan Chai on February 25 last year.
The woman's body was found in a pool of blood on the bedroom floor, partly covered by a quilt. She had more than 150 wounds on her head and neck.
At issue was whether Wang, 37, should be found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity or convicted of manslaughter due to diminished capacity.
Jurors are expected to begin their deliberations next week.
Wang, who was a senior manager at a Japanese insurance company in Central, believed his mother was a Japanese spy, the trial heard.
When she asked to stay at her son's flat, something the woman had never done before, Wang 'became more convinced that she was a [spy] sent by the enemy', Professor Lee added.
A week before the killing, several Japanese managers from Wang's company arrived in Hong Kong, compounding his fears of Japanese persecution, Professor Lee testified. 'That was the last straw.'
The frenzied nature of the attack, Wang's inability to remember details, and his post-killing comments suggested that he lost touch with reality, Professor Lee testified.
The man told police 'my mother was killed by me' not 'I killed my mother', a clue that Wang only realised what he had done after the fact, Mr Lee said. It was possible Wang had known he was killing someone, but did not realise it was his mother.
