Greek-Australian Ross Konidaris, 26, was acquitted of murdering his grandparents on the grounds of mental impairment.
Judge Terry Forrest of the Supreme Court of Victoria said that he was convinced Konidaris has been suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and he didn’t know that he was committing a crime.
His family testified that a few days before the murder, Konidaris exhibited bizarre and unusual behavior. He also had several paranoid thoughts and wandered around his house late at night holding a knife. Konidaris was also a drug addict and was using marijuana, amphetamines and cocaine.
As Konidaris said in court, he believed that his grandfather had killed someone in the past and that his relatives were looking to avenge his death. As Konidaris had the same name with his grandfather he believed that he was in danger as well, so he decided to kill them himself.
The murder was committed on December 22, 2012. According to the police report, Konidaris at first shot and killed his grandparents and then set their house on fire.
Triantafillio, 81, and Stavroula, 84, had been married for 55 years and had lived in Melbourne for about 30 years. All of their neighbors were extremely shocked when they were informed about the tragic incident.
Konidaris is still in custody and will undergo another psychiatric test so the doctors can find a psychiatric institution appropriate for his needs.
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