Court hears park ranger on ‘mission from God to kill wife’ did not have a mental disorder

A park ranger who said he was “on a mission from God” after being found wandering naked through a field having killed his wife was not suffering from a mental disorder and did not meet the criteria for detention under the Mental Health Act, a psychiatrist has told his murder trial.

James Kilroy (51) has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to murdering his wife Valerie French Kilroy, who died at their Co Mayo home in June 2019 from strangulation, blunt force trauma and a stab wound to the neck.

The Central Criminal Court jury hearing his trial has been told that Mr Kilroy accepts that he killed his wife. After the killing, he was seen walking naked in a field near his home and gardaí took him to Mayo University Hospital to be assessed under the Mental Health Act for admission to a psychiatric unit.

Consultant psychiatrist Dr Camilla Curtis told prosecution counsel Anne-Marie Lawlor SC on Friday that she assessed Mr Kilroy on June 14th, 2019 at about 2.40pm. During her assessment, gardaí found Ms French Kilroy’s body in a camper van to the rear of their home.

Dr Curtis noticed that Mr Kilroy had lacerations and bruises on his forearms and back. He said his wife had stabbed him in the back but Dr Curtis found no stab wound.

He told Dr Curtis that he was “on a mission from God to kill his wife”.

He said he did not question the commands and could not remember if he had fulfilled his mission. He spoke of being watched by body guards, said that he believed the year was 2024 and that he felt he had lived 50 years in one day.

Dr Curtis said confusion about time can be seen in schizophrenia but is more often a sign of delirium or intoxication. When pressed further about his relationship with God, he said that he didn’t hear God’s voice talking directly to him but that he “followed his heart” and that God spoke through him.

He told her that following his heart had “led to the worst”, that he had stabbed his wife with a kitchen knife to the throat. He said his wife was “turning into a zombie” and that he felt the dead were going to get him.

Dr Curtis said Mr Kilroy was able to respond coherently to questions and when asked about drug use, he said he smoked cannabis about 10 days previously. He told Dr Curtis he used to grow his own cannabis in a polytunnel beside his home.

He denied having suicidal thoughts or problems sleeping and eating and said there had been no change in his mood over the previous 10 days.

When asked if he thought killing his wife was right or wrong, he said he had no choice. When asked if he regretted it, there was “no apparent response”, Dr Curtis said.

Following her assessment, Dr Curtis found that Mr Kilroy did not have a mental disorder and did not meet the criteria for detention under the Act. He was discharged from the unit into the custody of gardaí.

Mr Kilroy has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to the charge of murdering Ms French Kilroy (41) at their home at Kilbree Lower, Westport, Co Mayo, between June 13rd and 14th, 2019. The prosecution has told the jury that psychiatric testimony will be in conflict over whether the defendant was insane at the time of the killing. Patrick Gageby SC, defending, has previously told the jury that the defence accepts that the accused killed his wife.

Michael Hourigan BL, for the prosecution, also told the jury on Friday that State Pathologist Dr Linda Mulligan carried out a postmortem on Ms French Kilroy and noted ligature marks to her neck and a stab wound to her throat.

Multiple injuries to her face and head were in keeping with repeated blunt force trauma while incised wounds on both hands were suggestive of defence type injuries, she said.

The pathologist concluded that Ms French Kilroy died from ligature strangulation combined with blunt force trauma to the head and a stab wound to the neck. Blood loss from the wounds to her hands would have contributed to her death.

The trial continues in front of Mr Justice Tony Hunt and a jury of eight women and four men.