A mentally in New York man who as soon as tried to sacrifice a stranger’s child on a aircraft was discovered not responsible by purpose of madness in an Irish court docket Thursday over the brutal homicide of his millionaire financier dad.
Brooklynite Henry McGowan, 31, was on trial for killing his 66-year-old father, John McGowan, at a fancy five-star resort resort in Eire in 2024 after the household patriarch flew throughout the Atlantic to assist his son by means of a psychological well being disaster.
A jury handed down the decision after listening to from each prosecution and protection witnesses that McGowan, who had an extended historical past of psychological sickness, was within the midst of a psychotic episode when he beat and strangled his father to demise, RTE reported.
The tragic killing unfolded Nov. 12, 2024 when the rich financier flew over to Eire on a so-called mercy mission after studying his son had suffered a psychological well being relapse whereas touring by means of Europe.
McGowan, who was identified with bipolar dysfunction in 2022, had gone to the Mater Hospital in Dublin for some medicine a day earlier after trashing his passport and belongings on the airport — after which working on foot to the town middle.
After reuniting together with his son, the elder McGowan — a accomplice at an funding agency within the Massive Apple, checked them each into the luxe Ballyfin Demesne resort in Laois whereas they waited for a brand new emergency passport.
The son later stripped down bare and attacked his father in a altering cubicle within the resort’s pool space — leaving him mendacity in a pool of blood, the court docket heard.
McGowan, who was discovered sitting within the resort’s library within the aftermath, informed investigators that God had willed him to strangle his father as a result of he was making an attempt to pressure him to take his meds.
The son added that he informed his dad he’d at all times love him proper earlier than he died.
A number of psychiatrists testified throughout the trial that they believed McGowan was affected by a schizoaffective dysfunction on the time.
In the meantime, McGowan’s prior psychological historical past was relayed to jurors throughout the , together with one episode in 2022 the place he tried to grab a stranger’s child on a flight to Paris so he might try to sacrifice the kid with the intention to save the aircraft.
He was admitted to a psychological hospital within the wake of that incident, the court docket heard.
McGowan, who was flanked by his family members in court docket for the decision, returned to Dublin’s Central Psychological Hospital for therapy. There can be a Feb. 20 listening to at which a decide will rule on his court-ordered therapy plan.
