Robert George Dent heard voices telling him to kill his parents before he allegedly picked up a mallet and knife and murdered the couple, a court has been told.

June 29, 2023

A man accused of using a mallet and knife to murder his elderly parents heard voices that told him to kill the couple, a court has been told.

Robert George Dent, 48, claims he was of unsound mind in September 2021 when he allegedly cut his mother Bernice’s throat and bludgeoned his father Colin in the Western Australian town of Capel.

He pleaded not guilty to the killings that were discovered when the recluse called triple zero after spending several days with the bodies inside a house.

Psychiatrist Viki Pascu told Dent’s Supreme Court trial on Thursday he was so mentally ill at the time of the alleged murders that he was deprived of the capacity to control his actions.

“He heard voices telling him to kill his parents,” she said from the witness box.

“He acted on his reality at the time, which was acutely psychotic.”

Dr Pascu said Dent reported feeling controlled by radionics machines and voices before the killings and that he appeared detached from the seriousness of the events when he called police.

“It would fit in with someone who is suffering from the negative symptoms of a psychotic illness,” she said when asked for her opinion about Dent’s conduct during the call.

Dr Pascu diagnosed Dent with schizophrenia after the alleged murders.

She said he had likely suffered from the illness since he was a teen and it had not been treated for about 30 years.

The court heard Dent lived with his mother, 74, and father, 75, and rarely left the house, about 200km south of Perth, due to tiredness and chronic fatigue-like symptoms.

His mother, who was his carer, believed in alternative remedies and did not consider that the symptoms could have been linked to her son’s mental illness.

It was also missed by various general practitioners that the family visited in a bid to get help for Dent over the three decades.

The judge-only trial continues.