Mental Illness Causes Mother's Murder: Lawyer

A Montgomery County man accused of stabbing his mother allegedly battles a mental disease, according to a defense attorney

A Montgomery County man accused of killing his mother and confessing to police suffers from a mental illness, according to his lawyer.

Officials say 54-year old Warren Pennick of Lansdale stabbed his mother on Oct. 31, 2012. 79-year-old Lorraine Pennick was later found dead and lying in a pool of blood, according to investigators.

In an article in The Lansdale Reporter, defense attorney Robert Adshead blamed Warren Pennick’s actions on paranoid schizophrenia, which he has allegedly suffered from since childhood.

According to Adshead, Pennick believedt their home was falling apart, they did not have enough money to fix it, and they would end up homeless. Adshead says Pennick wanted to save his mother from this fate, “and in his mind, saving her was taking her life.”

The defense attorney claims that mental evaluations could be a factor when arguing the case. If Pennick is mentally ill, then he would not have been able to form a targeted intent to kill his mother, according the Lansdale Reporter.

Pennick is charged with first- and third-degree murder. His arraignment is scheduled for March 27 in Norristown.
 

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