Second Witness Testifies on Beaulieu's Mental Instability During Parents' Stabbings

In the second day of Joel Beaulieu's murder trial in , a defense witness concurred that Joel Beaulieu's severe mental illness suprecedes his criminalresponsibility in the alleged murder of his father, Conrad, during Labor Day weekend in 2010.

Judge Melanie Thunberg said she will review all the information in the case and issue a decision on or before Dec. 16. The trial is complete until that time.

"I think all evidence should point in the right direction," said Beaulieu's attorney, Jeffrey Pine, when delivering his final statements. He reiterated that Beaulieu should be found not guilty by reason of insanity. "It was a tragedy with no rational basis to it. He's someone who needs a great deal of therapy."

Psychiatrist describes 'very serious mental illness'

Beaulieu wore the same attire from his on Wednesday. Pine called Dr. Barry Wall to the stand, a forensic psychiatrist, of the Rhode Island Department Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals. As with the state's witness on Tuesday, Dr. William Land, Wall concluded Beaulieu suffers from schizoaffective order with bipolar symptoms. Wall said he interviewed Beaulieu and noted his in-patient treatment for his mental health issues date back to 2004 at Butler Hospital in Providence.

"It's a very serious mental illness," Wall said. "It's a merging of both mood disturbance and pyschotic symptoms."

During the cross examination with Wall, Prosecutor Daniel Guglielmo suggested that Beaulieu's previous physicians were unsuccessful, and even improper, in handling the case. He added that medical science does not know everything about schizoaffective disorder and successfully treating it. Pine objected several times during the questioning, and Thunberg told Guglielmo that Wall was only in court to speak on his work with Beaulieu during the Sept. 4 and Sept. 5 incidents from 2010.

Guglielmo also argued that Beaulieu had an "element of surprise" and "planning" involved before allegedly stabbing his mother and father in their 31 Windwood Drive home. A photo of a note Beaulieu reportedly wrote and left under his mattress the day of the murder was turned in as an exhibit, outlining his fear that his mother and father were "working with the Devil."

Wall said witness statements supplied to police reported Beaulieu said his father was sexually molesting him and he did not feel safe, and he felt he was being watched by the FBI and CIA, so he wrote down his thoughts on the note instead of saying it out loud.

Voice said 'do it now'

Before committing the alleged stabbings, Wall said, Beaulieu heard a voice say "do it now" before heading downstairs and grabbing the knife.

"Behavior falls within a spectrum, not an 'all or none,' " Wall said. "It was an action of the illness. The doctors in 2004 did not know he was going to have another psychotic episode, bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. It does take time for these symptoms to develop."

Guglielmo said that between the two forensic psychiatrists who testified in court, there is a half-century of expertise, yet the state still feels compelled to pursue its own report. He asked Thunberg that, if the insanity verdict stands, Beaulieu be immediately transferred to a mental health facility.

Guglielmo thanked the sensitivity of the in handling the case, and turned to Beaulieu's mother, Diane, sitting in court and, pausing to find the words, thanked her for attending to support her son. Diane began to cry and a deputy sheriff quickly supplied her with a handkerchief.