Weatherston 'horrified' at killing, court told

Clayton Weatherston told the court Sophie Elliott strongly affiliated with Miss Bennett. Photo / The Press, Pool

Clayton Weatherston told a psychiatrist he regretted "many things" after killing his former girlfriend and student, a court has heard.

Psychiatrist David Chaplow, New Zealand's director of mental health and chief adviser to the Minister of Health, interviewed Weatherston after the killing and said Weatherston told him he felt nauseous when he read a report on the injuries to the body of Sophie Elliott.

"I am of the opinion that he suffered no disease of the mind at the time of the killing," Dr Chaplow said.

"Weatherston could be described as having an anxiety disorder."

Dr Chaplow also spoke to Weatherston's mother, and she told him she could not understand what went so tragically wrong, as her son apparently never showed any inclination towards anger.

Weatherston, 33, a former Otago University economics tutor, is on trial in the High Court at Christchurch for the murder of Miss Elliott, 22. He admits he is guilty of manslaughter, but says he was provoked by Miss Elliott and lost control when he stabbed and cut her 216 times.

Dr Chaplow was asked to do a psychiatric evaluation on Weatherston, and interviewed him twice at Otago Prison on April 24, 2008, and November 29, 2008.

He read his report to the court today.

Weatherston confirmed to him he had killed Miss Elliott and that he was "horrified.....surreal".

"He told me that, in spite of having a very good memory, there were things about the day that he could not recall. He told me: 'I felt nauseated after reading the pathology report'. "

"When I asked him whether he regretted his actions, he tearfully replied: 'There are many things I regret'."

Dr Chaplow said Weatherston agreed he was "obsessive" and had obsessive rituals. Weatherston stated that when he turned off the lights he always had to have a positive thought in his mind as he did so.

"This ritual was the same if he took the lid off a jar or hung a towel on the rail."

There was little doubt that Weatherston "dissociated" during the frenzied attack on Miss Elliott.

"The person experiencing dissociation often states they have no feeling during events and that they have patchy memory for events."

Weatherston said he met Miss Elliott in 2007 and told Dr Chaplow his initial impression of her was that "she wasn't likeable", and that she seemed "spoilt".

Weatherston cited incidents in June, 2007, when Miss Elliott would come to his office and linger there, wanting to talk.

"She was obsessed with me," Weatherston told Dr Chaplow.

The relationship between Weatherston and Miss Elliott started to unravel with Miss Elliott's jealousy and her tantrum behaviour.

"Weatherston stated that he could rarely do anything right and was into 'appeasement mode'."

"He alleged that Sophie was 'touchy and prickly' in regard to her physical appearance and intelligence."

"He stated to me: 'I felt really pissed off but I could not break free of her'. He stated to me 'I had resentment toward her for so many things'."

Weatherston was taking the anti-depressant Fluoxetine, and increased his dosage by three times in the three days prior to the killing.

Dr Chaplow said Weatherston was a "vulnerable character" because of his personality characteristics of anxiety, obsessionality and narcissism.

He was made more vulnerable due to two nights of difficulty sleeping prior to the killing.

"It is not unreasonable to believe that excess medication played a part."

Dr Chaplow said two days before the killing, Weatherston was feeling upset. "This was on account of his interaction with Sophie."

Dr Chaplow also spoke to a former girlfriend of Weatherston's, whose name is suppressed, and said she had some pertinent remarks about Weatherston's personality. She told him: "He won't forget anything that he construes as an insult......he can't move on".

The woman also stated: "He is not outwardly crazy, but if you dig deep he has big psychological problems".

She thought there was a "clear deterioration in his personality" from mid-2006, Dr Chaplow said. She described Weatherston as having "a huge ego but low self-esteem".