A TEENAGER accused of murdering a stranger claimed he thought his victim was “a zombie”, a court heard yesterday.

Tianhui Zhan, 19, also told a psychiatrist that he heard voices telling him to kill 21-year-old Michael Davis, who he stabbed to death on a city street.

Zhan denies murder and has lodged a defence of insanity at the High Court in Glasgow.
After his arrest, the teenager, who lives in Canada, said that after flying into Glasgow, he started seeing blood on the faces of people he passed on the street – and believed they were all zombies.

The court yesterday heard evidence from psychiatrist Ian Dewar, who spoke to Zhan after his arrest for the murder of cleaner Michael in West Campbell Street in Glasgow city centre.

Michael was stabbed three times by Zhan – who armed himself with a knife bought at a kitchen shop.
Dr Dewar, 44, a consultant forensic psychiatrist at the State Hospital at Carstairs, said Zhan told him that voices had instructed him to travel to Glasgow in October last year.

Zhan, known as Jeff, also claimed the voices told him: “You have to buy knives to protect yourself.”
At the time, he was in London having flown from Canada in September and spent time in Barcelona and Hamburg before flying to the UK.

Dr Dewar said: “He started seeing blood over the faces of people and was convinced they were zombies.
“He said that he bought a knife specifically for his own protection, although he had never carried a weapon in the past.”

Zhan told Dr Dewar that he had limited memory of killing Michael.

But Zhan told him that as he was speaking to his victim, he thought that he was a zombie or a ghost.

He also said he originally believed Michael was going to attack him with a knife or a baseball bat, but now understood that he had only been making a phone call on his mobile.

Dr Dewar said Zhan told him that the voices were saying: “Jeff, if you don’t kill him first he will kill you.”

Dr Dewar said: “Mr Zhan didn’t think he had done anything wrong.”
He told the court that Zhan has no history of violence, but had not been taking medication which had been prescribed for him by his doctors in Canada.

The court was told that Zhan left the scene after the killing and made no attempt to go through his victim’s pockets to rob him.

The jury also heard that Zhan has suffered psychiatric episodes since he was 14. The psychiatrist added: “He found himself in a situation in which he was in a lot of stress.

“He was in a foreign country. He had no family or friends around and he had run out of money.

“It is reasonable to expect that the intensity of his symptoms would have worsened.”

Dr Dewar told the jury that he believed that Zhan was insane at the time of the killing.

The doctor said: “I am of the opinion that his offence was illness-driven.

“He would not have been capable of determining what was right or wrong and should be considered as being insane at the time of the offence.”

Dr Dewar added: “I just don’t believe that he would have committed this offence had he not been seriously unwell.”

Under cross-examination by defence QC Brian McConnachie, Dr Dewar was asked: “The ladies and gentlemen of the jury have heard evidence from people who interacted with Mr Zhan and they considered him to be polite, well-mannered and with no evidence of mental illness. Is that consistent?”

Dr Dewar replied: “Mr Zhan is quite adept at hiding signs of his mental illness from everyone he meets.”
The court was told that initially Zhan was thought to be suffering from bipolar disorder.

But Dr Dewar said: “At the moment, we think it’s more likely to be a schizophrenic illness.”

Earlier, shop assistant Hannah Wilson, 20, who works at Lakeland in the Buchanan Galleries, Glasgow, told of how Zhan came into the shop and bought a knife on October 9 last year.

Derek Ogg, prosecuting, asked her how Zhan appeared during the transaction and Miss Wilson said: “He was just calm, normal.”

The trial continues.

No, despite being placed in the hypnosis in the news category, this has little to do with hypnosis but the obvious positive hallucinations being ascribed to this young man are of interest to those of us who purposefully – and safely – navigate the unconscious.

Be sure to check the comments and discussion at http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2011/07/05/zombie-killer-horror-as-teenager-claims-he-thought-his-victim-was-zombie-86908-23248393/.

– Brian