Saverio Bellante has been found not guilty of murdering Tom O'Gorman by reason of insanity.
The 36 year old admitted killing his landlord, but denied murder.
Juliette Gash reports;
Saverio Bellante had pleaded not guilty to the murder of Tom O’Gorman at 18 Beech Park Avenue in Castleknock some time between the 11th and 12th of January last year, but admitted killing his landlord.
Yesterday the court heard admissions from Mr Bellante that he stabbed Mr O’Gorman and hit him with a dumbbell following a tense game of chess.
The 36 year old Italian also admitted removing an organ from his landlord’s chest and eating a part of it.
In closing today, Sean Guerin said his client suffered from a well documented and diagnosed mental illness.
Mr Guerin said the fact that Tom O’Gorman, a “good and decent man met his end this way” was irrational, and what happened to his remains could only be seen through the lens of insanity.
Unusually, the prosecution did not give a closing statement.
Two consultant psychiatrists gave evidence yesterday that Mr Bellante was suffering from schizophrenia at the time of the killing, and that he fulfilled the criteria of not guilty by reason of insanity.
In her direction to the jury, Judge Margaret Heneghan told them that if they found Mr Bellante guilty, they’d be ignoring the testimony of two psychiatrists.
She told the jury that all the evidence pointed one way – that Mr Bellante did not have the necessary guilty mind to commit the crime of murder.
