Wigan tourist's killer is sent to secure hospital

A mentally ill woman who stabbed to death a Wigan tourist enjoying a holiday in America has been confined to a psychiatric unit indefinitely.
The late Denise WebsterThe late Denise Webster
The late Denise Webster

Crazed Faye Doomchin plunged a knife into Denise Webster’s chest in order to “rid the house of evil,” having earlier welcomed her as a guest but then fell into a “zombie-like state.”

The 61-year-old from Garswood, who was in the US to celebrate five years’ remission from cancer by attending a concert featuring Queen front man Adam Lambert, was rushed to hospital but doctors were unable to save her.

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Last August, almost two years to the day since the tragedy, Doomchin, of Great Neck, Long Island, was found not guilty of second degree murder. But a New York court judge determined that she had a dangerous mental disorder and was to be institutionalized.

Faye DoomchinFaye Doomchin
Faye Doomchin

The then 67-year-old had denied the crime, citing the equivalent of diminished responsibility due to psychiatric issues.

Acting State Supreme Court Justice Robert Bogle said that it had been proved beyond reasonable doubt that the accused was guilty of killing Denise, even if she was not criminally responsible. Doomchin had decided to dispense with a jury and be tried by the judge instead.

The court reconvened this week for sentencing. Doomchin - who, in a first for New York state justice, attended most of it via Skype due to coronavirus restrictions - made an appeal for clemency while voicing remorse and sorrow for her victim.

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Speaking from the Kirby Forensic Psychiatric Centre, she said: “Not a day goes by where I don’t feel mortified and terrible dread over the loss of Denise Webster’s life.

Denise had gone to America to celebrate five years of being cancer-freeDenise had gone to America to celebrate five years of being cancer-free
Denise had gone to America to celebrate five years of being cancer-free

“Judge Bogle, please have mercy and grant me freedom to rebuild my life with my family. Please let me return home and receive the proper psychiatric and medical care to help me heal and be restored to good health.”

The wife and mother also promised to “never, never, never again” pose a threat to others or herself.

But the judge ordered that she be confined to a state psychiatric facility, after agreeing with the prosecution that she has a dangerous mental disorder.

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After the stabbing on August 13 2018, the authorities said Doomchin told police she had made “a terrible mistake” but had felt Denise was “evil.” She also said “the devil” was “jumping around from person to person” before she launched the fatal attack.

And it wasn’t her first violent episode.

Doomchin received outpatient psychiatric treatment after a non-fatal assault in 1999 in which she stabbed a stranger in an estate agency while having the same sort of delusion, the court heard.

But a doctor’s opinion years ago that Doomchin didn’t have a dangerous disorder “prevented her from receiving appropriate institutional treatment and could very well be likely why we find ourselves here today,” Judge Bogle said on the day of the verdict.

Earlier hearings had been told that the two women, who did not know each other previously, had had lunch with a male mutual friend on that fateful day, and the trio then went back to Doomchin’s house.

Things had started well with coffee, cake and piano music.

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But as Det Lt Stephen Fitzpatrick, of Nassau County police reported shortly afterwards: “While they were sitting in the living room, they were talking and Doomchin made statements that she did not like the woman from England.

“At around 3.50pm, Doomchin claimed she ‘needed to rid the house of evil.’

“She then appeared from the kitchen with a kitchen knife, walked right over to her and stabbed her in the chest.”

Nassau prosecutor Martin Meaney contended during Doomchin’s trial that “she knew what she was doing was wrong and she did it anyway” when she attacked Denise with the kitchen knife.

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A psychiatrist who testified for the prosecution said Doomchin suffered from bipolar disorder but wasn’t going through a delusional episode at the time of the slaying.

But Doomchin’s attorney, Robert Gottlieb, argued during the trial that his client was so seriously mentally ill she couldn’t appreciate the consequences of her actions after struggling for decades with schizophrenia.

A forensic psychologist who testified for the defence said Doomchin had a decades-long persistent delusion that an evil force was permeating the world. He said Doomchin believed her role was to help get rid of that evil and that she was “in the throes of a psychotic episode” when she killed Denise.

A term was not fixed by Judge Bogle for Doomchin’s confinement, but he is bound by law to re-evaluate it periodically and he said that the first review will take place in six months’ time.

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After the hearing, Nassau district attorney’s office spokesman Brendan Brosh said he continued to express deep condolences to Denise’s family and friends, which includes her husband Tommy.

Calling the case a tragedy, Mr Gottleib said: “Ms Doomchin is not a murderer. She is a very ill person.

“Locking the defendant in a psychiatric facility doesn’t solve the problems for Faye Doomchin...or for society.”

After the tragedy, Denise’s husband Tommy said that he would “miss her with all my heart.”

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