A Schizophrenic Sufferer Thinks He's A Hero For Killing Three Elderly People
EXETER - A paranoid schizophrenic kills three elderly men. In the shadow of his delusions, he was a hero. The murder seemed to him like the rescue of a young woman from a pedophile group.
Alexander Lewis-Ranwell hit Anthony Payne (80) with a hammer before hitting twins Twins and Roger Carter (84) to death with a shovel. According to Doctor John Sandford, the psychiatrist brought in to defend Lewis-Ranwell in court, the murders were not completely under Lewis-Ranwell's control.
"He (Lewis-Ranwell) knew entering someone's property and knew that when he killed someone, he would cause serious damage. But he had some kind of belief that his victims had a fault (which in his mind was pedophilia). He believed he was doing some sort of thing. search. I think so (search). And that's a good thing morally, "said Sandford quoted Metro.co.uk, Wednesday, November 27.
The killings took place in two houses that were only about half a mile apart from each other. The murders of Payne and the Carter twins occurred in just three hours on February 10. An incident that actually shocked law enforcers. Because the murder of Payne was carried out by Lewis-Ranwell just hours after being released by the police.
Previously, the police had arrested Lewis-Ranwell because the 28-year-old man attacked a farmer with a saw. The attack was a police clue that immediately linked Lewis-Ranwell's involvement with the murder of three elderly people. He was finally arrested. Lewis-Ranwell was taken to a psychiatric unit to study his mental health problems.
Since then, Sandford has continued to work with Lewis-Ranwell. Sanford testified that Lewis-Ranwell suffered from delusions and acute psychotic hallucinations. This caused his ability to control himself to decrease. According to Sandford, in the murder, Lewis-Ranwell believed that what he had killed was a group of pedophiles who were holding a 25-year-old girl.
"He saw a photo of a woman in a magazine and he started to think this woman had disappeared and he felt he had to find her ... He believes he frees and prevents future crimes," said Sanford.
The Lewis-Ranwell case is still in court. Sandford kept trying to convince the jury that these murders were suffering for Lewis-Ranwell who was unable to distinguish between delusion and reality.