Woman found not guilty of double murder in apartment
A woman who killed her partner and stabbed another man to death while experiencing delusions she was "God's messenger" has been found not guilty of the double murder due to mental impairment.
The 46-year-old Victorian woman faced the Supreme Court on Thursday, remotely appearing from a mental health facility, for a hearing to decide her mental state when she killed the men in May 2022.
She was suffering a psychotic episode when she stabbed her 59-year-old partner multiple times in his apartment, after a significant history of domestic violence, the court was told.
The woman heard voices "coming from God" that her partner wanted to die and go to heaven, a psychiatrist said.
His body was found lying in a pool of blood, holding a polaroid of his daughter, a religious cross and a small cardboard heart with the words: "You're the best daddy in the whole world and I love you lots."
After killing the first man, her hallucinations continued and she believed she needed to kill someone else, the psychiatrist said.
She got in a taxi and met her second victim at a hotel, believing he also wanted to die. She brought the other man back to the same apartment and stabbed him four times, in the chest and back.
Neighbours found the 61-year-old lying in the hallway and tried to resuscitate him. He later died at hospital.
When police arrived at the apartment they found blood smeared across doors and walls.
The woman cried as the grim details of her crimes were read aloud in court.
She has since been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, which was described as a combination of schizophrenia and bipolar, and had used drugs in the lead up to the murders.
The psychiatrist said the woman held delusions she was "acting in the will of God" when she stabbed the two men, that she was going to marry God and she was God's messenger.
At one point she interrupted the specialist and said she was "really sorry" about killing the second man.
A judge found her not guilty of the two murders by way of mental impairment.
She was ordered to return to prison until a bed at a mental health facility becomes available.
Her period of supervision will be determined at a later court hearing.
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