No one is disputing that Carreiro, now 31, sought out his mother, Christine Minnix, a popular Middletown teacher, and stabbed her to death with a kitchen knife in his Barbara Drive apartment in 2005.
He has spent the last six years at Summit Behavioral Healthcare because he was deemed incompetent to stand trial.
Michael Borack, a clinical psychologist from Summit, who found Carreiro incompetent six years ago, testified Tuesday that the man was so entrenched in his delusional beliefs he wanted to represent himself, to convince the judge and jury he was on a holy crusade.
The psychologist testified Carreiro refused to believe he suffered a mental illness.
“He believed he was a special agent of God and he was hallucinating, hearing the voice of God talking to him,” Borack said. “He believed he was an active participant in the war of good and evil, that he was the Archangel Michael.”
Borack has continued to treat Carreiro and said that while his patient still hears voices, he is able to ignore them.
Assistant Prosecutor John Heinkel prompted both Borack and an earlier witness, psychologist Bobbie Hopes, to acknowledge that Carreiro told people the day after the stabbing, “I understand I’m guilty, and I have to pay my debt to society.”
Hopes testified that Carreiro understood what he did was legally wrong, but didn’t appreciate it was morally wrong to kill his mother. She said it could be either or to satisfy the standard for not guilty by reason of insanity, which prompted an objection by defense attorney Chris Pagan.
“I will define to the jury what constitutes not guilty by reason of insanity,” Judge Michael Sage said.
Dr. Indie Rukseniene, Carreiro’s treating psychiatrist at Summit, was the last witness Tuesday. She testified that Carreiro’s mental illness is so severe it has taken several attempts to get his medications correct, and one of his prescriptions is double the dose allowed by the Federal Drug Administration for people who are not hospitalized.
The prosecution has introduced the idea that Carreiro was a marijuana and cocaine abuser.
Rukseniene said that while the drugs can exacerbate a mental condition, they don’t explain his behavior the day of his mother’s death.
“He has been clean and sober for sure while he has been hospitalized,” she said. “He still continued to have psychosis that would mean he would have psychosis regardless of if he uses drugs or not.”
Pagan plans to call a forensic psychologist to the stand Wednesday, then Heinkel will present a rebuttal mental health specialist, and the case will go to the jury.
About the Author