CHILLIWACK, B.C. - A B.C. man who shot his wife and then set her body on fire because he believed she was possessed by the devil has been found not criminally responsible.
The man killed his wife of two years in November 2009 while his son and her daughter -- each from previous marriages -- were in their Abbotsford home.
A written decision from B.C. Supreme Court says the man's son watched him retrieve a rifle on the morning of Nov. 11, 2009, and then walk to the couple's bedroom and fire.
The man, who can't be named, dropped the children off with relatives, and later his father saw that the house was on fire and called emergency officials, who found the woman's burned body inside.
The judgment notes the man, identified only as J.R.V., told police he was motivated by his religion and later told a court psychiatrist he believed the Antichrist was growing inside his wife's stomach.
Judge Brian Joyce says it's clear J.R.V. was experiencing some type of dissociative phenomena at the time of the killing, and his mental state prevented him from understanding that his actions were wrong.
