Peter Kemball: Verdict in murder trial of nurse Stephen Douglas
Stunning details can be revealed surrounding the events that led to a mentally disturbed man stabbing his caseworker to death. It comes as the victim’s family led emotional tributes to the slain nurse in court.
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Family of a beloved nurse stabbed to death by his mentally disturbed client in a frenzied episode have faced the killer in court after he was acquitted of murder on mental health grounds.
Peter John Kemball, 41, will be held in Silverwater Jail until a tribunal can decide on his care after Justice Peter Johnson found him not guilty in a two-day judge-alone trial in the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
Kemball had pleaded not guilty on the grounds that his mental health issues meant he was unaware the attack was morally wrong.
He sat quietly as the verdict was handed down.
His defence lawyer Helen Shaw had argued he was “suffering from a diseased mind” at the time of the attack and was having a series of delusions.
Some of the delusions, the court was told, included Kemball thinking his parents were Julie Bishop and Malcolm Turnbull and that people were “out to get him”.
Beloved Camperdown nurse Mr Douglas was found bleeding out in the Balmain East unit of Kemball last November.
“November 28 will forever be a day of darkness and immeasurable sadness for me and my family after having my loving father taken away from me,” his son Adam Douglas wrote in a victim impact statement read out in tears by his wife Sarah.
“Only victims of homicide can begin to understand having that life taken, but when he was trying to provide needed support and care for the very person who took his life it is an injustice that will never be quantifiable.
“Not a day goes by where I don’t think about my dad.”
Agreed facts tendered to court this week reveal the frantic scenes in the aftermath of his death.
“This case worker Stevie Douglas is a hitman and I’m his job right … I’ll call you after I kill him,” Kemball said in a call to his father according to court documents.
Mr Douglas was attacked almost instantly with a large kitchen knife as he walked into the Nicholson St unit, according to court documents.
Kemball had placed a fold up sofa over the body after the attack and phoned his father.
“I just killed my case worker,” Kemball said in the call after the stabbing.
“That’s not funny. Don’t joke about this. Where is he?” his father replied.
Agreed facts state Kemball then sent a photo to his father of the body and opened the door to police covered in blood.
Crown prosecutor Pat Barrett on Monday said he had been stabbed “a large number of times” as the court was told of Kemball’s longstanding schizophrenia.
Reports tendered to the court by two psychologists show both had believed he was suffering from schizophrenia and schizo-effective disorder at the time.
Two days before the attack Kemball had received just 1.3ml of the usual 1.9ml dose of his anti-psychotic medication because the rest was left in the syringe, the court heard.
Mr Douglas, 62, had been a nurse for 22 years and had been Kemball’s case manager for two years at the Camperdown Community Mental Health team.
He leaves behind two children and a four grandchildren.
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