A man accused of murdering his parents told a jury in the Central Criminal Court yesterday that he killed them because he believed they were evil.
Mr Martin Doherty (27), of St Lelia Street, Limerick, has denied that on September 21st, 1998, he murdered retired Garda William Doherty (58) and his wife Teresa (50) at their home in Monadreen, Thurles.
Mr Doherty said that in the weeks leading up to his parents' deaths he had been under the delusion that his parents were "bad". Asked by his defence counsel Mr Patrick MacEntee SC, if he still held that view, the accused replied that he did not. "They were decent people," he said.
He said he received messages from the body language of strangers as signals and signs giving him information. "They were a form of telepathic communication," he said.
Mr and Mrs Doherty died from multiple stab wounds. Mr Doherty told the court that after the attacks he showered, ate a sandwich and had a cup of tea.
A consultant psychiatrist at the Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum, Dr Brian McCaffrey, told the court he believed that at the time of the killings the accused was suffering from schizophrenia.