A man who stabbed a former Ballarat businessman to death was found not guilty by reason of mental impairment yesterday.
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Antony John Duguid, 47, was a paranoid schizophrenic with a 20-year history of mental illness who lived by his own belief system, the Supreme Court heard.
The court heard Duguid stabbed newsagency owner Garry Angus 30 times in the hand, face and neck in the Bendigo shop he operated with his wife late on October 18, 2011.
Duguid, the son of an Olympic boxer, admitted the attack the following day and was charged with Mr Angus’ murder.
Mr Angus ran a mixed business in Ballarat with his wife and parents in the early 1990s.
He established a newsagency in Central Square which ran until the family moved to Bendigo in 1996.
In a statement shortly after his death, Mr Angus’ family said the 49-year-old was a kind-hearted family man.
“Garry was a passionate man in all aspects of his life,” they said.
“While he worked very hard ensuring his business was successful, his family was always his number one priority.”
Mr Angus’ wife dropped him at the Pall Mall newsagency to do bookwork at 10 o’clock on the night of his death.
She returned at 11.30pm and found his body in a rear storeroom.
Yesterday, Justice Elizabeth Curtain found Duguid to be mentally impaired after psychiatric evidence found that although he was aware of what he was doing, he was not aware it was wrong.
The court heard Duguid referred to himself as Crow and lived by the “Crows Law”.
He wrote in detail about the beliefs. Duguid expressed anti-homosexual beliefs and repeatedly got tested for sexually transmitted diseases, the court heard.
Both the prosecution and defence had agreed that Duguid was mentally impaired.
He was remanded to the Thomas Embling Hospital until December 10 while a report on his psychiatric condition is prepared.
jordan.oliver@thecourier.com.au