Man Who Beheaded Mother In Horrific Incident Gets Psychiatric Care

A North Carolina man, who decapitated his mother and walked out of the house holding his mother’s head and a large butcher knife, was found not guilty of murder because of insanity. A Franklin County judge on Monday sentenced Oliver Funes Machada to state psychiatric care over the March 2017 killing.

At his hearing in Louisburg on Monday, Machada stood and told Superior Court Judge Henry Hight Jr., “I just want to say I’m sorry,” according to a video feed from WRAL. “Let’s hope God forgives me.” The verdict was given after doctors determined Machada had a condition similar to schizophrenia during the killing.

Machada, 18 at the time of the killing, called 911 and told emergency dispatchers he had killed his mother “because I felt like it.” Prosecutors dropped first-degree murder charges last year and transferred him to Central Regional Hospital in Butner to evaluate his fitness.

George Corbin, a psychiatrist hired by the defense, testified during the court hearing Monday that months of treatment and anti-psychotic drugs made Machada competent for trial, but added that Machada was "extremely psychotic" at the time of the attack and was therefore not criminally responsible for his actions.

At times during Machada’s treatment, his physician said, he paced naked in his room and barked like a dog.

"When I first saw him, he admitted that he was hearing a voice telling him that he should kill me and then a voice warning him that the correctional officer that was guarding us was going to shoot me, so you could imagine how tormenting it would be to constantly be exposed to that sort of an experience," Corbin said in court.

"Much of his psychosis over time ... has maintained sort of a religious component to it," he said. "[He had] delusions or hallucinations that God was instructing him to do things, or alternatively, that there were evil spirits and dark shadows, including possessing his mother, that were directing his behavior and hers."

"A person acting on a psychotic belief they are following the direction of God is very likely not going to appreciate the wrongfulness of their conduct because God can do no wrong," Corbin added. "Anyone acting on the direction of God is, by definition, not doing wrong."

Judge Henry Hight Jr. concluded Machada suffered from a psychotic illness that led to the killing.

“He said ‘Jesus wanted it to happen. He would have stopped me if he didn’t want it to happen,’” Hight said.