A Campbell River father, Brent Warren, was mentally ill when he killed his seven-year-old son in July 2011 defence lawyer Robert Mulligan said Monday at Warren’s first-degree murder trial in B.C. Supreme Court in Victoria.
Mulligan, who pleaded not guilty on Warren’s behalf, said his 44-year-old client should be found not criminally responsible by reason of a mental disorder.
Prosecutor Scott Van Alstine told the court Jonathan died after being stabbed 27 times during two attacks in the early morning of July 27.
Warren wept in the prisoner’s box as he listened to evidence that included a videotaped confession. His wife, Linda, sat with her parents in the public gallery.
Warren, who had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2000, had been off his medication for about six weeks leading up to the incident.
A few days before he killed his son, police saw him dancing on his car.
On the night of July 26, Warren gave Jonathan a kiss and went to bed. But voices in his head were telling him to kill Jonathan to save the entire human race, Van Alstine said.
In his videotaped statement hours after Jonathan’s death, Warren told the Campbell River RCMP that he struggled against the urges to kill Jonathan.
Eventually, Warren got a knife from the kitchen, looked at his sleeping son, gave him a kiss and said, “Forgive me, son.”
His wife was awakened by Jonathan’s screams, Van Alstine said. When she saw her husband stabbing the boy, she got between them and tried to help.
When police arrived they saw blood all through the hallway, kitchen and bedroom, Van Alstine said.
Warren’s feet, legs and arms were covered with blood. Jonathan was lying on his bed covered in blood while his mom performed CPR.
Jonathan was taken to the hospital but pronounced dead in the ambulance. Both Warren and his wife were treated for lacerations to their hands.
For the past few months, Warren has been treated at the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital near Port Coquitlam, Mulligan said.