Mourad Kerollos found not guilty of murdering wife Gihan due to mental illness

A husband who stabbed his wife after months of controlling behaviour has been found not guilty of murder with a judge saying it’s not a ‘typical case’.

Friends of Gihan Kerollos, stabbed to death outside a Randwick hospital by her husband Mourad two years ago, reacted with sadness and skepticism on Thursday as her killer was found not guilty of murder by reason of mental illness.

“It’s an excuse,” Jackie Crombie said outside the NSW Supreme Court, after hearing Mr Kerollos would be committed to a forensic hospital.

“If excuses keep being made for abusive men, domestic violence will never end.”

Her comments came after a judge said he was convinced by “compelling” psychiatric evidence that Mr Kerollos was so mentally ill at the time of the killing he did not know it was morally wrong.

Gihan Kerollos, also known as “Gigi”, was a loving mother of three sons, a devoted member of Sydney‘s Coptic Christian community and a diligent, well-liked employee at the Prince of Wales hospital in Sydney.

The 48-year-old was found dead with a Coles shopping bag covering her head outside the hospital, where she worked as an administrator, at around 8.40pm on May 18, 2019.

Gihan Kerollos was found dead with a Coles shopping bag over her head.

The terrible event was the culmination of months of volatile and controlling behaviour in which Mr Kerollos constantly accused his wife of cheating on him, monitored her phone and took away her car keys.

He installed a GPS device in her car, tracking her movements and in one instance following her to a secret appointment she had made at a legal centre, and made “indecipherable” recordings of her conversations, which he insisted proved her infidelity.

The morning of the day she died, Mrs Kerollos had texted a friend saying her husband was “getting worse and he really needs medical attention”.

Forensic psychiatrists Dr Kerri Eagle, for the Crown, and Dr Steven Allnut, for Mr Kerollos, agreed he was psychotic at the time he killed Mrs Kerollos, and had been labouring under the delusional belief she had been having an affair for months.

Mr Kerollos told the psychiatrists he had been hearing the voice of his long-dead mother “almost daily” at the time he killed his wife, and told Dr Eagle he was receiving messages through the television and the radio.

Acting Justice Peter Hidden said he was satisfied the defence of mental illness had been made out, noting the prosecutor had also accepted this.

“This is not the typical case, sadly all too common, of violence inflicted upon a woman by a controlling, jealous and suspicious husband,” Acting Justice Hidden said.

“This tragic killing was plainly the product of mental illness.”

The verdict means Mr Kerollos will be detained in a facility as a forensic patient.

In the months before she was stabbed to death, her husband had monitored her phone and taken away her car keys.

One of the couple’s three sons, Paul, told the court: “I lost my mum and my dad at the same time”.

“I keep asking myself, is there anything we could have done to prevent this?” he said.

He said his father had shown no remorse when he had spoken to him, adding: “It’s sad that he doesn’t have to take responsibility for his actions.”

“There’s a stain on our bloodline now, a trauma that may be passed down for generations,” he said.

In a statement released to media, friends of Mrs Kerollos said they believed the killing was a matter of domestic violence and the “completely selfless” mother deserved much better.

“An expert witness on domestic abuse and coercive control could have confirmed that irrational behaviour, insane jealousy, high levels of suspicion, stalking, tracking and surveillance are all common of perpetrators,” the statement said.

“Behaviours that escalate as they feel they are losing control of their victim. The extensive research acknowledges that coercive control in a relationship is the biggest precursor to domestic homicide.”

Outside court, Ms Crombie said she and Mrs Kerollos had been “naive” about the danger signs and wanted to raise awareness.

“There was no physical violence, so we didn’t realise the dangers,” she said. “We worried about her wellbeing, but not her safety.”

Ms Crombie said Mrs Kerollos had “all of a person’s best qualities”.

“She had a spirit that could never be crushed,” she said. “The only thing that could overcome it was an unspeakable act of horrific violence.”

Originally published as Mourad Kerollos found not guilty of murdering wife Gihan due to mental illness