John McGowan traveled from the US intending to watch over his mentally ill son Henry and planned to stay overnight before seeking hospital care the next morning. Hours later, during a psychotic episode, 31-year-old Henry McGowan strangled his father in a changing-room cubicle at the five-star Ballyfin Demesne. Henry told gardaí he believed he was on a mission from God inside a videogame-style alternative reality. Evidence showed erratic, impulsive behavior and a privileged lifestyle. Henry came from a wealthy family with access to private psychiatric care. A jury accepted his not guilty by reason of insanity plea, and the family lost two loved ones.
"Hours later, Henry McGowan, a 31-year-old data analyst from New York with a history of manic disturbance, violently killed his father. At his trial for murder this week, Henry pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, a plea that was accepted by the jury. The court was told that during a psychotic episode he strangled his father, the person who had come to save him from himself, in a changing-room cubicle at the five-star Ballyfin Demesne in Co Laois."
"Evidence of Henry McGowan's erratic lifestyle in the lead-up alluded to his impulsive state of mind. He rented a Lamborghini in Paris, bought a pink fur coat in Harrods in London, and booked into the €1,000-a-night room in Ballyfin Demesne. A picture of privilege and affluence was painted. Henry McGowan came from a wealthy background - his father was a Wall Street trader and his mother was an art collector."
Read at Irish Independent
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