Daughter who stabbed her mother to death before cutting off her head is cleared of murder but found guilty of manslaughter
- Jessica Camilleri found guilty of manslaughter, not murder, in mother’s death
- Camilleri stabbed Rita more than 100 times before cutting off her mother’s head
- It took the jury two days to deliberate, and Camilleri showed no reaction at fate
A Sydney jury has found a daughter who stabbed her mother to death before cutting off her head not guilty of murder.
Jessica Camilleri was instead found guilty of manslaughter after arguing she was mentally impaired at the time.
Camilleri, then 25, stabbed Rita Camilleri more than 100 times in the St Clair, western Sydney, home they shared before taking her mother’s head to the footpath and knocking on her neighbour’s door.
Jessica Camilleri (pictured) was found guilty of manslaughter after arguing she was mentally impaired at the time
Camilleri, then 25, stabbed Rita Camilleri (pictured) more than 100 times in the St Clair, western Sydney, home they shared
Rita’s body was found on the kitchen floor near her eyeballs, tongue and tip of her nose, while the rest of her head was moved to the footpath outside by her daughter, the court was previously told.
She told a psychiatrist the horrific act was inspired by the horror movies she had developed a fixation on, the ABC reported.
Camilleri told the psychiatrist she ‘saw red’ when her mother threatened to call on emergency services to put her in a mental institution and was in a fit of rage, the court was told at an earlier hearing date.
It took the jury two days to deliberate, and Camilleri showed no reaction when her fate was announced.
Forensic psychiatrist David Greenberg said Camilleri had no single diagnosis for her behaviour in July 2019.
He diagnosed her with a mild intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) that features a fixation on horror movies and figurines, and an intermittent explosive disorder (IED) that led to anger-based impulsive outbursts disproportionate to the provocation.
During the trial, the jury was showed body camera footage from when emergency services first arrived.
More to come.
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