Chainsaw killer who chopped up Abu Dhabi room-mates was 'insane'

ABU DHABI // A labourer who chopped his room-mates into tiny pieces using a meat cleaver and a chainsaw cannot be held criminally responsible because he is insane, a court has ruled.

The giant labourer was bullied by his three roommates, who constantly made fun of him.

Prosecutors said his torment became so great that he began imagining that his room-mates had drugged and raped him at night while he slept.

The delusion overtook his mind and he bought a cleaver and a chainsaw and waited for them to go to sleep.

He killed them all, including two who tried to escape after learning what had happened to the first victim.

The Criminal Court ruled the labourer could not be held criminally responsible as medical reports showed he was psychotic. Prosecutors appealed but the Appeals Court rejected it.

They then appealed at the Cassation Court arguing that the labourer must have been aware as he planned the crime by buying a cleaver and chainsaw and waited for his room-mates to fall asleep before killing them.

However, the Cassation Court upheld the earlier courts' decisions but ruled that the man's tribe should pay the blood money of Dh600,000, as per Sharia.

hdajani@thenational.ae