What compelled him to kill?
If this was a horror film,
he was possessed by a demon.
One summer morning in the small town of Sherrill, New York, Allison Belius's live-in boyfriend David Trebilcock entered the bedroom of her 6-year-old twin daughters, Lauren and Erica.
After barricading the door with a dresser, he began stabbing Lauren repeatedly with a kitchen knife, even as Allison broke through and tried to pull him off her daughter.
Then he stabbed himself.
Mr. Trebilcock is in custody for the girl's murder.
Why did he kill her?
Said his attorney:
"There is no remorse for what happened because he still feels that what he did was justifiable, that God was telling him to do things that he needed to do to get into heaven… He believes he did the right thing so he can ascend into heaven to be with his God."
Mr. Trebilcock thought the 6-year-old was an "evil-doer."
He does realize that what he did was wrong in the eyes of the law, so he has been found mentally fit to stand trial.
Mr. Trebilcock also believes that since he survived his own suicide attempt, God allowed him to live so he could study the Bible and prepare himself for heaven. Said his attorney:
"His explanation for what happened is totally bizarre and delusional, but that's his reality and it's nothing that you or I can understand…"
But is it really "nothing that you or I can understand?"
If we believe in demons, and believe he was possessed by a demon, then we understand it: a demon overruled his rational mind, and compelled him to kill.
If we believe in monsters, and believe he was a monster, then we understand it: he was a monster with no rational brain, acting on his nature as a monster, and he was compelled to kill.
If we believe in science, and believe his mind was infected by severe schizophrenia or another brain disease, then we understand it: an illness overruled his rational brain, and his brain compelled him to kill.
And, to Mr. Trebilcock, the reason he killed the girl makes sense, too: a higher power told him to kill her. Whether that power was demonic, monstrous or diseased, he understood that it was what he had to do.
The problem with Mr. Trebilcock is that, no matter how hard he believed it or how much faith he had in it, we believe his system of reality was wrong.
Mr. Trebilcock was deceived.
Killing a 6-year-old girl was not a way for him to get into heaven.
– Trebilcock found mentally fit for trial, still justifies child's killing, Utica Observer Dispatch>>
– Trebilcock pleads not guilty to murder, requests solitary confinement, Utica Observer Dispatch>>
Tagged : compelled / compelled kill believe / kill
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