Post by LadyBlue on Mar 8, 2012 18:44:59 GMT -5
Brendan O’Rourke had a mental illness that caused him to believe he was being tortured by his former employer and that the only way to make it stop was to kill children, a psychiatrist told a jury Tuesday.
Dr. Jaga Nath Glassman testified that the defendant had delusions characterized by paranoid and grandiose themes. The doctor said he believed the delusions made it difficult for O’Rourke to distinguish between right and wrong.
“It’s very clear that he has a severe mental disorder that put him in a psychotic state of mind,” Glassman said.
O’Rourke, 42, was convicted Monday of 14 counts of premeditated attempted murder and assault with a firearm in connection with an Oct. 8, 2010, shooting at Kelly Elementary School in Carlsbad. Two girls, both second-graders at the time, were wounded.
Because O’Rourke has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, a second phase of the trial is under way in Vista Superior Court to determine whether he was legally sane when he committed the crimes. If not, he would be sent to a state mental hospital instead of prison.
In this context, “insanity” is a legal term, not a medical one, the lawyers said.
Glassman, who was hired by the Superior Court to evaluate O’Rourke, said the defendant has paranoid schizophrenia and believed that he had damaging information about his former employer, the insurance company AIG. O’Rourke had worked for AIG in Illinois and believed the company was selling cocaine to finance political campaigns.
The doctor said O’Rourke told him that AIG, Illinois politicians and others were torturing him, preventing him from dating, getting him fired from work and evicted from his home. According to the testimony, O’Rourke was served an eviction notice at his Oceanside apartment shortly before the shooting.
“He believed that the only way he could make this torture stop and the only way he could get them to leave him alone was to kill children,” Glassman said.
The original plan was to blow up a school bus, the doctor testified.
During opening statements Tuesday, Deputy Public Defender Dan Segura told the jurors they would hear evidence from four doctors, all of whom would testify that O’Rourke suffered from a mental disease at the time of the shooting.
During opening statements Tuesday, Deputy Public Defender Dan Segura told the jurors they would hear evidence from four doctors, all of whom would testify that O’Rourke suffered from a mental disease at the time of the shooting.
Deputy District Attorney Summer Stephan said the evidence would show that O’Rourke was angry after being rejected by the women he wanted, all of whom were in their 20s. In an email to a family member, O’Rourke complained about AIG and others he believed were the cause of his misfortune.
He wrote: “If you can’t beat them then join them in destroying people’s lives.”
www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/mar/07/tp-school-shooter-called-paranoid/
Dr. Jaga Nath Glassman testified that the defendant had delusions characterized by paranoid and grandiose themes. The doctor said he believed the delusions made it difficult for O’Rourke to distinguish between right and wrong.
“It’s very clear that he has a severe mental disorder that put him in a psychotic state of mind,” Glassman said.
O’Rourke, 42, was convicted Monday of 14 counts of premeditated attempted murder and assault with a firearm in connection with an Oct. 8, 2010, shooting at Kelly Elementary School in Carlsbad. Two girls, both second-graders at the time, were wounded.
Because O’Rourke has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, a second phase of the trial is under way in Vista Superior Court to determine whether he was legally sane when he committed the crimes. If not, he would be sent to a state mental hospital instead of prison.
In this context, “insanity” is a legal term, not a medical one, the lawyers said.
Glassman, who was hired by the Superior Court to evaluate O’Rourke, said the defendant has paranoid schizophrenia and believed that he had damaging information about his former employer, the insurance company AIG. O’Rourke had worked for AIG in Illinois and believed the company was selling cocaine to finance political campaigns.
The doctor said O’Rourke told him that AIG, Illinois politicians and others were torturing him, preventing him from dating, getting him fired from work and evicted from his home. According to the testimony, O’Rourke was served an eviction notice at his Oceanside apartment shortly before the shooting.
“He believed that the only way he could make this torture stop and the only way he could get them to leave him alone was to kill children,” Glassman said.
The original plan was to blow up a school bus, the doctor testified.
During opening statements Tuesday, Deputy Public Defender Dan Segura told the jurors they would hear evidence from four doctors, all of whom would testify that O’Rourke suffered from a mental disease at the time of the shooting.
During opening statements Tuesday, Deputy Public Defender Dan Segura told the jurors they would hear evidence from four doctors, all of whom would testify that O’Rourke suffered from a mental disease at the time of the shooting.
Deputy District Attorney Summer Stephan said the evidence would show that O’Rourke was angry after being rejected by the women he wanted, all of whom were in their 20s. In an email to a family member, O’Rourke complained about AIG and others he believed were the cause of his misfortune.
He wrote: “If you can’t beat them then join them in destroying people’s lives.”
www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/mar/07/tp-school-shooter-called-paranoid/