The jury in the trial of a man who killed a psychiatric patient in Waterford has been told it has to consider his mental state at the time.
Paul Cuddihy, who was also a resident of St. Otteran’s, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Maria O’Brien by reason of insanity.
Maria O’Brien died on Sept 5th 2014 after being stabbed over 100 times at a group home she shared with Paul Cuddihy on the grounds of St. Otteran’s psychiatric hospital in Waterford.
When staff nurse Mary Grant arrived at the scene, she said she saw the accused standing over his housemate with a knife in his hand.
Her colleague said his eyes were huge and he was covered in sweat and blood.
Nurse Grant said she managed to calm him down and take the knife from him before they made their escape.
Paul Cuddihy, who’s 38, has a long history of mental illness and suffers from paranoid schizophrenia.
Two forensic psychiatrists concluded he was having a psychotic episode when he killed Ms. O’Brien but the jurors will ultimately have to decide if that was the case.
