Warning: This story contains graphic details and may be triggering to some readers
Lauren Dickason, the 42-year-old South African woman accused of killing her three daughters, was incapable of knowing that what she was doing at the time the murders was morally wrong, an expert on filicide, said in the High Court in Christchurch, New Zealand on Friday.
Dr Susan Hatters-Friedman, who wrote the book on why parents kill their children, gave evidence for the second time before Justice Cameron Mander on behalf of the defence, according to Stuff.NZ.
On September 16, 2021, the night her daughters died, Lauren was in a depressed psychotic state, Hatters-Friedman said.
Dr Hatters-Friedman spent 10 hours interviewing Lauren and also went over notes made by other psychiatrists who interviewed her after the murders.
Lauren was assessed by psychiatrists on two occasions once, on September 19, 2021 and the next time was a week later.
On both occasions, Lauren did not grasp the full extent of the situation as she kept fixating on mundane things, like when a package would arrive from South Africa.
At the time of the offence, Lauren’s depression worsened significantly and she developed psychotic features shortly before the killings, Hatters-Friedman observed.
Lauren operated from a skewed view on reality and in August 2021, she had a relapse of her postpartum depression and had to go back on antidepressants.
Hatters-Freidman concluded that Lauren thought she was removing the children from an unsafe environment, one she saw through her own depressed psychotic state.
By this notion, Lauren could be considered not guilty by reason of insanity.
Hatters-Freidman explained that Lauren’s motive for killing her daughters, Liané, Maya and Karla, was an altruistic one.
Earlier this week, the court heard that Lauren told the girls before that she was “sick and going to die” and that they would all be together in heaven.
Speaking on the conversation, Hatters-Freidnman said Lauren acted as if she was sending the children to safety and releasing her husband Graham from the the burden that she saw herself and children being.
Kerry Beaton, for Lauren, asked the expert psychiatrist about her view that the prosecution's two witnesses did not find Lauren’s motive to be altruistic, Stuff NZ wrote.
“She by all counts was a loving mother…was looking for a better life for them,” Hatters-Friedman replied.
“She perceived that she and the children would go to heaven together, believing that she did not perceive that what she was doing was morally wrong.”
Furthermore, Hatters-Friedman explained that Lauren did not act emotionally when killing her children.
During a police interview on September 17, 2021, Lauren told officer Micheal Kneebone about the order she killed the girls in, with Karla, one of the twins, being murdered first.
Lauren said Karla was being “really horrible to me lately”...that's why “I did her first”.
But Hatters-Friednman did not believe this was anger but believed Lauren meant that she chose to kill Karla first because she was most likely to put up a fight.
Lauren was thinking practically, rather than out of emotion, Hatters-Friedman believed.
During evidence on Thursday, the court heard that the urinary test Lauren took a day after showed that she had antidepressants, anti-anxiety, anti-nausea and tramadol in her system.
Lauren is using an insanity and infanticide argument to get off murder charges but the prosecution, lead by Andrew McRae, wants to prove Lauren killed her children out of anger and was fully aware of her actions.
The trial is expected to resume on Monday.
IOL
Are you or someone you know affected by mental health? If so here are some important numbers:
The SA Depression and Anxiety Group's 24-hour mental health helpline: 080-045-6789.
The SA Federation for Mental Health: 011-781-1852.