James Kilroy suffered psychotic episode 18 years before he's alleged to have murdered wife, trial hears

At the Central Criminal Court, a forensic psychiatrist testified that James Kilroy experienced a psychotic episode in October 2001, some eighteen years before the alleged killing of his wife. Professor Keith Rix told the jury that medical records from that earlier episode showed the accused had used cannabis approximately two weeks prior and subsequently developed abnormal beliefs and perceptions. The witness outlined that in the weeks preceding the death of Valerie French Kilroy at their home in Kilbree Lower, Westport, Co Mayo, the accused exhibited an escalating pattern of delusional thinking, including beliefs about surveillance and poisoning. The psychiatrist stated that cannabis use two weeks before the incident constituted a substance-induced psychotic episode in a vulnerable person rather than simple intoxication. Mr Kilroy, aged fifty, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to the murder charge. Ms French Kilroy, aged forty-one, an occupational therapist, died in June 2019 from strangulation, blunt force trauma, and a stab wound. The trial is ongoing before Mr Justice Paul McDermott.