Man who beheaded his mother thinking she was 'devil' found 'not guilty'

A man who killed his mother and mutilated her body earlier this year got no prison sentence on the grounds of mental health, but may never be released from the mental hospital.

Ernest Grusza murdered his 59-year-old mother Wieslawa Mierzejeska at her flat in St. Ives, Cambridgeshire, on February 22. The 41-year-old beheaded her with a meat cleaver and cut her body into 11 pieces. He then wrapped the body parts in clingfilm and stored them in a fridge and a cupboard, reports The Mirror.

Grusza committed the crime believing his mother to be the devil, and thought she would resurrect if he performs a ritual. Cambridgeshire Crown Court found him not guilty of murder by reason of insanity, with the judge describing the case as "extremely tragic."

"One of (Grusza's) most compelling delusions was that his mother was the devil; he was told by God to kill her, and dismember her body, in order to destroy the devil. He was convinced she would resurrect if he poured holy water and blood upon her dismembered body parts," the judge said.

Witnesses described the culprit and the victim as hard-working people from Poland who had lived in the UK for a "number of years." They described Grusza as a "quiet and private man, with no hint of violent behaviour at any time."

However, witnesses confirmed that Grusza's mental health started deteriorating from January this year. Psychiatrist Professor Keith Rix said that Grusza has bipolar affective disorder, also known as manic depressive illness, and he ended up killing his mother "in the course of a manic episode."

The court heard that on the night before his mother's death, Grusza had become "agitated" after walking into a shop claiming to have won the Euromillions jackpot, only to be told he hadn't. The "situation was defused and he left the shop" after his mother arrived, but Grusza was found outside the same shop the next day in blood-soaked clothes.

Police went to his mother's flat to discover an "utterly nightmarish scene" and quickly realised there were "assorted human body parts" in the flat. The defendant admitted to killing his mother and detailed his entire crime to the police officers. He unwrapped some of the body parts and held up her head to show them, after which he was arrested.

The judge noted that the victim had tried to get her son some medical help and also attempted to have him sanctioned under the Mental Health Act, but couldn't succeed. The judge added, "the very person seeking to obtain the help you so desperately needed, who no doubt loved you deeply, was the person who met their end at your hands."

The judge sentenced Grusza to an indefinite hospital order under the Mental Health Act.