Man who killed wife because he believed she was a demon gets 10 years' jail
Posted on 25 May 2021 | 24,817 views | 52 comments
Selina Lum
The Straits Times
May 24, 2021 Believing that his wife was a demon who had to be banished back to the abyss, a man who suffered a relapse of schizophrenia repeatedly hit her with martial arts sticks and stabbed her neck. Australian Paul Leslie Quirk, 49, had heard voices prompting him to kill his Singaporean wife Christina Khoo Gek Hwa. He had also seen a passer-by wearing a marathon "finisher" T-shirt, which his mind interpreted as “finish her”. After killing Madam Khoo, 43, in their Sengkang condominium, Quirk, who was a podiatrist at Punggol Polyclinic, stabbed the family's 10-month-old poodle and threw it out of their home's third-floor balcony.
Quirk, who was in Singapore on a long-term visit pass, believed that the dog was a familiar - a spirit companion - that "could have brought the demon back to life".
When the police arrived, he answered the door covered in blood, and told the officers that he was "Jesus Christ".
On Monday (May 24), he was sentenced to 10 years' jail by the High Court after he pleaded guilty to a charge of culpable homicide.
The charge was reduced from murder, as his psychiatric condition was assessed to have substantially impaired his mental responsibility for his acts.
Another charge, of mischief for killing the dog, was taken into consideration.
The court heard that Quirk suffered a relapse because he reduced his intake of his prescribed medication about four months before he killed Madam Khoo on Jan 3 last year at Esparina Residences.
He moved from Australia to Singapore in 2016 and married her in August 2017. He also adopted her son from her first marriage.
Madam Khoo's LinkedIn profile indicated that she was a director and consultant at a management consulting firm based in Burlington, Massachusetts. She was believed to have worked for the company in Singapore.
The couple had occasional arguments about the alimony that Quirk owed his former wife in Australia, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Andre Chong told the court.
Quirk was first diagnosed with depression after his divorce in 2001.
In 2005, he started to experience auditory and visual hallucinations and believed that he needed to save the world by dying. This led to two episodes of self-harm that resulted in him being admitted to psychiatric units.
He achieved full remission after he was switched to an antipsychotic medication but suffered relapses when he stopped taking it.
The Straits Times
May 24, 2021 Believing that his wife was a demon who had to be banished back to the abyss, a man who suffered a relapse of schizophrenia repeatedly hit her with martial arts sticks and stabbed her neck. Australian Paul Leslie Quirk, 49, had heard voices prompting him to kill his Singaporean wife Christina Khoo Gek Hwa. He had also seen a passer-by wearing a marathon "finisher" T-shirt, which his mind interpreted as “finish her”.
The court heard that Quirk suffered a relapse because he reduced his intake of his prescribed medication about four months before he killed Madam Khoo on Jan 3 last year at Esparina Residences. PHOTO: SHIN MIN DAILY NEWS
Police investigators were seen in the third-floor unit at Esparina Residences where Madam Khoo was found dead on Jan 3, 2020. PHOTO: ST FILE
Source:
The Straits Times
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