Murder accused who strangling father in Laois five star hotel said he earned $4.5 million in his last job

The son of a wealthy Irish-American family described experiencing impulsive behaviour such as buying a "conspicuous pink coat" in Harrods and renting a Lamborghini in Paris in the lead-up to strangling his 66-year-old father at a five-star Laois resort, the Central Criminal Court has heard.

The trial heard today that murder accused Henry McGowan said he had earned 4.5 million dollars from his last job, with his money now placed in a trust. The jury heard that Henry's father John, a Wall Street trader, had previously travelled to Europe to help his son after he was involuntarily detained in a psychiatric hospital for attempting to seize an infant in a bassinet on a flight into Paris.

Consultant forensic psychiatrist Dr Stephen Monks, called to give evidence by the defence, also told the trial that the accused was experiencing a relapse of schizoaffective disorder when he strangled his father and did not at the time know the nature or quality of the act, did not know what he was doing was wrong and couldn't refrain from committing the act.

The expert witness found that Mr McGowan was suffering from an acute psychotic episode and meets the criteria for a special verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity under the Criminal Law Insanity Act 2026.

Mr McGowan (31), with an address at Clinton Street, Brooklyn, New York in the United States has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to the murder of John McGowan (66) at Ballyfin Demesne, Ballyfin, Portlaoise, on November 12, 2024.

The trial has heard that John McGowan travelled to Ireland from the US on a "mission of mercy" to look after his son after phone communication with Henry caused "considerable concern for his welfare".

The jury has heard that the accused described "in detail" how he strangled his father with his bare hands in a changing area off the pool, putting a "full fist into his throat", just over an hour after arriving at Ballyfin Demesne.

In his evidence, Dr Monks told Michael Bowman SC with Olan Callanan BL, defending, that he met with the accused on November 29, 2024 and July 4, 2025. He said Henry McGowan was the youngest of five children and came from a family of Irish origin.

Dr Monks said the accused's mother was a curator in an art gallery and his father was a successful Wall Street trader. Henry McGowan described his father as "a gambler of sorts", related to the Wall Street trade.

The witness said the accused told him he had smoked a lot of weed in high school during his mid teens but stopped "smoking joints" by the age of 20. He also said the defendant cut down on his consumption of alcohol when he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2022 at 27 years old.

Dr Monks said the accused's first contact with psychiatric experts was in 2018, when he experienced depression but got no formal diagnosis.  

The witness said Henry McGowan fell under the care of psychiatric professionals with an involuntary admission at The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York in January 2022, when he had his first "manic episode" where psychosis was observed along with depression with suicidal ideation.

The witness said the accused's sister described her brother as having a prominent elevated mood at the time and that he was sending long euphoric text messages in the early hours of the morning.  

Dr Monks stated that the accused expressed a belief to his sister upon discharge from Mount Sinai that his father was not his real father and that two of his siblings had "evil" in their eyes. "The beliefs about his father when the accused was unwell dated right back to his first admission," said the witness.

Dr Monks said the defendant was treated with Olanzapine and Lithium to stabilise his mood. His mental state was improved and insight restored by the time of discharge in February 2022.

In March 2022, the accused was involuntarily detained as part of a psychiatric admission for four weeks at Sainte-Anne's hospital in Paris after suffering persistent paranoid delusions on a flight from the US. In the days after his admission, the accused's father and his sister travelled to Paris to assist the defendant as best they could with his return.

The witness said antipsychotic treatment was introduced but took a number of weeks to work before the delusional beliefs responded.

When the accused returned to New York, he went to hospital and was diagnosed with bipolar affective disorder. Dr Monks said there is a lot of overlap between schizoaffective disorder and bipolar affective disorder and it is difficult to establish at first which one of these diagnostic labels is most appropriate.

Dr Monks said the accused's mother and sister communicated with Henry's psychiatrist Dr Alex Felix in February 2023, who the accused met on a weekly basis during that time, as they had concerns about his elevated mood.

The witness said the defendant's sister reported the first indication of her brother's relapse in August 2024 when he asked her for $60,000.

In October 2024, the accused's mother accompanied her son to Italy as part of his trip to Europe and found him very manic. Over the next few weeks, the accused started sending text messages back home which became increasingly concerning, indicating he was unwell, said the witness.

On November 8, 2024 - within three days of the incident - the accused's mother had contacted Dr Felix to voice concerns when her son sounded euphoric after meeting a woman in Amsterdam during his trip. The witness said it was recommended by Dr Felix for the accused to take Olanzapine to prevent any emerging symptoms "as a preventative measure".

Dr Monks said in early November 2024 the accused went to Paris, where the accused said every interaction felt like a communication from God and that he believed he was on a mission to free the world from evil.

At the same time, the accused's family were trying to formulate a plan to get him to return to the US. The defendant's sister told the witness there was no history of violence between Henry and her father and their relationship was always close.

Dr Monks said in his interviews with the patient, he described persecutory delusions leading up to November 12 and impulsive behaviour such as buying a conspicuous pink coat in Harrods and renting a Lamborghini in Paris.

The accused told the witness that he had feelings of his father not being his real father on November 12 and described delusional ideas where his father was an imposter. The defendant said: "I thought it like I was ordained by God to kill my father, like he was a source of evil".

The witness said the accused was admitted to the Central Mental Hospital (CMH) on December 10, 2024. He said the accused has been prescribed long-acting antipsychotic medication.

In conclusion, Dr Monks said the accused has a chronic psychotic illness; schizoaffective disorder, which is a mental disorder where an individual experiences symptoms of schizophrenia such as hallucinations and delusions, concurrent with symptoms of mania and depression.

He said the accused first presented with psychosis in 2022, at which time he had a manic mood disturbance and delusions and although he was originally diagnosed with bipolar disorder, the longitudinal course of his illness is more suited with a diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder.

Dr Monks said schizoaffective disorder requires antipsychotic treatment to prevent a relapse. He said a feature of the accused's clinical presentation has been the rapid onset of symptoms and the ability to mask psychotic symptoms to professionals and others.

The witness said that in 2022 and again on November 12, 2024 Henry held "very similarly-themed" delusional beliefs including that his father has been replaced by an identical-looking impostor and that the accused had a special identity and mission to rid the world of evil.

He said the accused's mental health deteriorated further when he travelled to Europe and that John McGowan became incorporated into his son's psychotic world at Ballyfin Demesne.

He said the accused was in a profoundly psychotic mental state and believed his father was part of the conspiracy, that the deceased had been replaced by an evil imposter and that the defendant was ordained by God to kill the imposter.

In cross-examination, Brendan Grehan SC, prosecuting, put it to Dr Monks that had the diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder been made earlier, the accused would have been on a more enhanced drug treatment which might have prevented his relapse.

The witness replied: "Perhaps, but we have the benefit of hindsight."

The witness also agreed he was advised by the accused that he had earned 4.5 million dollars from his last job, which he quit in October 2024. "Yes, he told me he is independently wealthy from his family," said Dr Monks, adding that it was organised for the accused's money to be put into a trust which his brother would control.

The trial has heard that the accused presented himself at the Mater Hospital early on the morning of November 12 seeking help. Mr Grehan said nobody in the Mater was made aware of the serious episode which occurred on a flight to Paris in March 2022 and caused the accused to be retained in a Paris institution for a month.

Counsel said the accused had made several attempts to seize an infant in a bassinet on the flight and had approached the parents on two occasions insisting on taking the child so that everyone could be cleared from evil.

Dr Monks agreed the accused was not a violent person, didn't have a temper, got on well with his father and that "no one could have foreseen what happened" in Co Laois that night.

Earlier in cross-examination, Detective Inspector Diarmaid Lawlor agreed with Mr Bowman that the McGowan family had become "gravely concerned" for Henry's mental health on November 11, 2024 and efforts were made to reach many points of contact including the police in the UK, An Garda Siochana in Ireland, as well as Ballyfin Demesne.

The detective said Henry McGowan travelled to London on the day before the incident on November 11, where he met a friend for a drink. The friend had very considerable concerns for the accused's mental health and communicated this with the McGowan family.

Mr Bowman said the accused was known to be bipolar and his family had a concern he was not taking his medication, which would affect his mood and presentation.

The witness agreed that John McGowan had got on a plane "as a sort of mercy mission" to get his son home to the US quickly. The accused was overheard in the Mater Hospital saying he had ruined his life and John McGowan had replied: "Don't be saying that, you're a young man, you have a life in front of you, everything can be fixed".

Counsel said gardai had used their best endeavours within the environs of Dublin airport to search for the accused - who was wearing a "distinctive" pink fur overcoat he had purchased in Harrods and was "hard to miss" - but Henry McGowan had discarded this.

In re-examination, Mr Grehan put it to the witness that as far as gardai at Dublin airport had received a notification from the police in London, it would appear by the time "whatever was received" could be actioned, the accused had already left the terminal.

"There was some time lag," replied the witness.

Mr Grehan said "as far as gardai can do something for a person where there is concern about them, they conduct a welfare check that this person may be vulnerable".

Counsel put it to the witness that gardai have the powers to detain someone if they consider them a danger to themselves or anyone else, but that this is "a grave step and has to be based on something very strong".

"Yes, it's a big step," said the detective.

Mr Grehan said the welfare check was "stood down" when the accused presented himself at the Mater Hospital on November 12, 2024.

The detective agreed that the accused did not meet the threshold for admission to a psychiatric unit after attending the Mater hospital for six hours, which involved him being assessed by professionals and provided with medication.

Mr Grehan said the plan was for father and son to return to the US on November 13, as the accused had discarded his passport and an emergency document had to be organised. The detective confirmed that, from the garda investigation point of view, there was no indication of the accused having made a threat to himself or anyone else.

The trial continues tomorrow before Mr Justice Paul McDermott and a jury of six men and six women.