By Associated Press - Wednesday, July 12, 2017

WARWICK, R.I. (AP) - A forensic psychiatrist says a man had a psychotic break when he beat a Rhode Island man to death and shouldn’t be held criminally responsible.

The Providence Journal reports (https://bit.ly/2vdwuuE ) that defense witness Dr. Mark Stewart testified Wednesday that Christian Lepore had been experiencing delusions that he was being directed by aliens before he killed 62-year-old John O’Neil last May.

Stewart says Lepore was “acutely delusional” and couldn’t tell the difference between right and wrong.

Police say the 35-year-old Lepore was naked when he walked onto O’Neil’s property apparently at random and beat him to death in West Greenwich.

A state toxicologist testified earlier Wednesday that no drugs had been detected in Lepore’s blood samples after O’Neil’s death.

Prosecutors are seeking a first-degree murder conviction from the judge.

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Information from: The Providence Journal, https://www.providencejournal.com

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