A Mormon missionary bought sex toys and ribs after going on a vicious killing spree where he murdered his parents and their longtime housekeeper, prosecutors alleged.
Camden Nicholson, 34, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to the murders of his parents Kim and Richard Nicholson and their maid Maria Morse at their $6 million mansion.
The killings in the family’s ritzy, gated California community in the Bonita Canyon, unfolded just hours after Nicholson was released from a mental health hold against doctor’s recommendations, a court heard Monday.
As his trial began this week, prosecutors said Nicholson stabbed his mother and father with knives and bludgeoned them with blunt objects on February 14, 2019 before killing Morse the next day.
Prosecutors said Nicholson walked to his parents’ home and lay in wait for them inside after he was released from a mental health facility, per Mercury News.
He allegedly attacked his father as he arrived home first and moved his body into a small bathroom, using a towel to stop blood seeping out as he continually slashed at his body.
He then waited for hours until his mother came home, before allegedly attacking her in the garage.
The next day, he allegedly did the same to Morse – who was described as a ‘second mother’ to him – slicing her throat in their kitchen before going on a spending spree with their cards and vehicles, prosecutors said.
Mormon missionary Camden Nicholson, 34, bought sex toys and ribs after going on a vicious killing spree where he murdered his parents and their longtime housekeeper in 2019, prosecutors alleged at his trial this week
Nicholson has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to the murders of his parents Kim and Richard Nicholson and their housekeeper Maria Morse, pictured with her husband
Prosecutors said Nicholson killed his parents and their housekeeper in their $6 million mansion (pictured) hours after he was released from a mental health hold
Prosecutors said Nicholson bought marijuana from a dispensary, purchased sex toys and lube, and bought ribs from a Gelson’s supermarket in the hours after allegedly killing Morse.
He turned himself into authorities the next day, and allegedly admitted to the killings but claimed he did so out of self-defense.
Nicholson’s defense attorney Richard Cheung told jurors that he had a history of psychosis, depression and paranoia and he had been hospitalized numerous times over the years.
He said Nicholson’s mental health issues emerged seven years before the killings while he was serving as a missionary for the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Cheung said Nicholson left the missionary service and dropped out of college, and then stopped taking his medication when he moved in with his parents because he thought it was poisoning him.
In December 2018, three months before the killings, Nicholson disappeared from his parents’ home and sent people he knew a slew of vile messages, jurors were told.
Maria Morse, pictured with her husband Wayne, was described as a ‘second mother’ to Nicholson and was their family’s longtime housekeeper
Nicholson, seen in his mugshot, had a history of psychosis, depression and paranoia that emerged years before the killings while he was serving as a missionary for the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
This led his parents to cut off his credit cards and tried to get him to seek mental health support, and he ultimately went to hospital on February 5, 2019 on a mental health hold.
He remained on the mental health hold until February 11, and during his stay he told doctors that his parents were ‘satanic’ and that they would ‘try to find me and classify me as insane.’
Nicholson, who was 27 at the time, was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder while in the hospital, and prosecutors said doctors were concerned about discharging him when he was released.
After carrying out the killings over the next several days and turning himself in, Nicholson told police to visit his parents’ home and said: ‘There is a triple homicide there, motherf***er’, prosecutors said.
Nicholson’s father Richard (seen together) had become wealthy through his blood laboratory business
Asked about his parents and their housekeeper by an officer, he responded that they would ‘make up stories that I have issues I don’t have’ and told him: ‘They are dead, man’, the court heard.
Nicholson’s trial is ongoing, and will consist of two phases because he is trying to plead not guilty by reason of insanity. The first phase will try his possible guilt, and the second phase will focus on his mental state.
If found to have been sane at the time of the killings, he faces life in prison without the possibility of parole. If found to be insane, he would likely be sent to hospital.
Nicholson’s father Richard had become wealthy through his blood laboratory business.
His business partner Gary Brown previously told the Daily Mail that he was ‘very community orientated, successful businessman, very personable, athletic and a family man.’
Nicholson’s mother Kim owned a clothing company called Panache, and he also had a brother Cavin, who was CEO of lifestyle gear and apparel company Boundary, based out of Salt Lake City, Utah.
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .