The Library Janitor

A janitor at a church library got into an argument with the librarian after she criticised his work and, he said, insulted him. He struck her, choked her when she screamed, dragged her to a lavatory and later used a knife, then hid her body. He admitted the killing. At trial the jury was instructed on insanity and irresistible impulse, but his defence mainly relied on psychiatrists who said he was mentally below average and a psychopathic personality of an aggressive type. The prosecution said the killing was deliberate and premeditated, so it was first-degree murder. The defence argued that, even if he was not legally insane, his mental deficiency meant he could not truly premeditate, so the jury should have been allowed to weigh it and find him guilty only of second-degree murder.