A young killer, who claimed he was told by a “computer god” to strangle his girlfriend four years ago, has been found unfit to stand trial.
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Rhys Michael Austin admitted to killing his girlfriend, 22-year-old mother Bianca Faith Girven, by strangling her while the pair sat inside his van at a romantic spot at the base of Mt Gravatt Mountain in Brisbane’s south on March 30, 2010.
He released his choke hold only when Ms Girven stopped breathing after 10 minutes. The young mother died in hospital the following day.
Mr Austin, who has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, has claimed he was told by a “computer god” to kill Ms Girven so that he could progress along a path to becoming a god himself.
He told his treating psychiatrists that he had to prove to god that he could kill her “because god had challenged him so many times before and he had never succeeded”.
Mr Austin said he believed Ms Girven’s life would be “preserved” and that she would live on as a god.
However, he initially told police Ms Girven was killed by two balaclava-clad men, who dragged her from his van and knocked him unconscious.
He continued to profess his innocence when he was arrested for the murder in August 2010.
Nine months later, Mr Austin admitted to the crime, telling a psychiatrist that he had no motive for the killing other than to complete a task for his “computer god”.
The Mental Health Court found Mr Austin, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2005, was of unsound mind at the time of the killing and therefore unfit to stand trial.
The finding was upheld by the Court of Appeal last month, despite a challenge by Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie.
Under Section 27 of Queensland’s Criminal Code “a person is not criminally responsible for an act or omission if at the time ... the person is in such a state of mental disease or natural mental infirmity as to deprive the person of capacity to understand what the person is doing, or of the capacity to control the person’s actions”.
The proceedings of the Mental Health Court could not be reported earlier for legal reasons.
The recently-published judgement of the Court of Appeal reveals that Mr Austin was admitted to the Princess Alexandra Hospital a month before Ms Girven’s death.
He was released into the care of his parents – both psychologists – and prescribed anti-psychotic and anti-depressant medication, although he had a history of non-compliance with medication.
On the night of the attack, Ms Girven and Mr Austin had attended the Moonlight Festival at Orleigh Park, West End.
Ms Girven’s mother Sonia Anderson last spoke to her daughter on the phone as she arrived at the festival.
“She was an absolutely beautiful girl, with the brightest smile,” Ms Anderson said soon after her daughter’s death.
“She was fun, loved her sisters, very clever and artistic.”
Ms Girven was heavily involved in the outreach programs Micah Projects, based in West End, and Othila's in South Brisbane and hoped to work with young homeless women.
Yet, Ms Anderson said her daughter’s greatest gift was mothering.
Ms Girven gave birth to a son after she was briefly married to a Balinese man at the age of 20.
The child remains in his grandmother's care.
