Woonun Willoughby, son of ex-Yothu Yindi drummer Bart Willoughby, found not guilty of murder by reason of mental incompetence

THE son of an acclaimed indigenous musician faces a lifetime of mental health supervision, after he was found to have fatally stabbed a relative while in a mentally incompetent state

Woonun Edwin Willoughby (orange shirt) with father and internationally renowned indigenous musician, Bart Willoughby.

THE son of an acclaimed indigenous musician faces a lifetime of mental health supervision, after he was found to have fatally stabbed a relative while in a mentally incompetent state.

Woonun Edwin Willoughby, 26, stabbed Oden Edgar to death in South Australia in front of terrified relatives in November 2015.

Willoughby has been in custody since the stabbing and after an initial offer to plead guilty to manslaughter was rejected, he was eventually found not guilty of murder by reason of mental incompetence.

After the ruling that Willoughby was not criminally responsible for his actions, Supreme Court judge Martin Hinton conducted a hearing to determine if he had carried out the objective act of murder.

Relatives told the hearing Willoughby was delusional and acting strangely in the days before he attacked Mr Edgar with a kitchen knife.

The court heard Willoughby’s behaviour included speaking about “portals” to another dimension and him standing for long periods in the backyard staring at the sky and yelling incoherently.

After stabbing Mr Edgar, Willoughby tried to push the knife down his own throat before police and paramedics arrived. Willoughby, whose father is renowned musician Bart Willoughby, was rushed to hospital in a coma but has since recovered from his physical injuries.

Bart Willoughby was a member of legendary bands Yothu Yindi and No Fixed Address and continues to work as an artist and musician.

Justice Hinton found the objective elements of murder proven, despite Woonun Willoughby’s lawyers’ urgings their client’s actions would have constituted manslaughter if he had been mentally fit.