Accused Child Murderer Showed Signs Of Psychosis: Psychiatrist

NAPERVILLE, IL — A psychiatrist at the DuPage County Jail said he thought Elzbieta Plackowska, the woman who stabbed two children to death on Oct. 30, 2012, was exhibiting psychotic symptoms in the days after the grim crime was committed.

The Naperville Sun reported that Dr. James Corcoran, who said he met with Plackowska 53 times since her arrest, saw her on her knees kissing a sink in her cell and that she had flooded two cells with water "because she believed there was a fire in the jail."

Police say Plackowska stabbed her 7-year-old son Justin and 5-year-old daughter Olivia Dworakowski well over 100 times combined and slashed their throats.

According to a report in the Sun, Corcoran said that she acted as if she were putting on imaginary clothing taken from an invisible dresser, and that she ate invisible food.

Plackowska's attorneys claim she was insane at the time she killed the children, which is the foundational argument of the defense. They say she had lost her sanity in the weeks prior to the gruesome crime as a result of her father's death in Poland, where she is still a citizen, the Sun reported.

Dr. Phillip Resnick, a forensic psychiatrist who has been involved in the high-profile cases of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh and Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, is expected to testify as a defense witness on Wednesday.

Article image DuPage County Sheriff's Office