Elias Abuelazam Found Guilty of Murder
on May 23, 2012 in Alleged Serial Killers by Brian CombsAfter only two hours and 23 minutes of deliberation and voting, a Flint, Michigan jury found Elias Abuelazam guilty of the murder of Arnold Minor.
Prosecutors showed that Arnold’s blood was found within Abuelazam’s Chevy Blazer, and on his tennis shoes and jeans. Four victims who survived attacks described Abuelazam as their assailant.
The defense tried to show that Abuelazam was legally insane at the time of the attacks. A psychiatrist testified that Abuelazam is a paranoid schizophrenic, and was compelled to commit violent acts by what he believed were “evil forces”.
Three prosecution psychiatrists testified that Abuelazam was not insane.
Abuelazam has been charged with three additional counts of murder, and six counts of assault with intent to murder.
Click here for a penpal letter received from Elias Abuelazam while he is in jail. This letter reflects fear, anxiety, paranoia and delusional thoughts; the sloppy handwriting denotes depression and high anxiety levels. See this site: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DnRs4sWzF3U
The accused Flint Serial Killer, Elias Abuelazam, has a history of mental illness, memory confusion, trouble categorizing things (like right or wrong). He told his psychiatrists he experiences delusions and hallucinations that tell him to murder. Paranoid personality types cannot be held to the same standards of responsibility as the rest of society. The voices in his head provoked him to act out. People living with mental illness can be expected to exhibit very different behaviors from the rest of the population (like violent crimes). Not everyone with paranoid schizophrenia commits murder. But there is a higher rate of psychotic episodes that can lead to violence. The stabbings Elias did proved he lost his marbles. He doesn’t fit the typical serial murderer category. He doesn’t have a primary motive but he displays paranoid thoughts of others intentions. Elias grew up in Ramle, Israel and exposed to violence at a young age. He lost his father at a young age. Elias may even have post traumatic stress disorder.
Elias shows all the signs of paranoid schizophrenia. This is evident in his behavior when he ended up in a fight in jail. Elias felt the officers were mistreating him in various way. He really believed the deputy was out to get him such as taunting worlds behind his back. Elias decided he had to take matters into his own hands; he had to gain a sense of control. The voices in Elias’s head told him to swing at the deputy or else the taunting would get worse.
Insanity is a legal, not a psychological term. Insanity is the unreliability of one’s behaviour with concomitant danger to himself and others. Insanity denotes a degree of mental illness that negates legal responsibility for one’s actions. The erratic placement of evidence found is unusual if he was a true serial killer. The killings were random. The gruesomeness of these crimes reflects psychotic behavior. More thought should be given to these facts.