Harrison Attacker Ruled Insane
O X F O R D, England, Nov. 15 -- The man accused of trying to stab to death ex-Beatle George Harrison and his wifewas found not guilty today by reason of insanity and orderedto be held indefinitely in a mental hospital.
The court had earlier heard that 34-year-old Michael Abram,who had denied trying to kill Harrison, 57, and his wife Olivia,52, at their country mansion in December last year, thought theguitarist was an “alien from hell.”
Abram was ordered to be held in a secure psychiatrichospital “without time restriction.”
The court in Oxford, central England, was told that Abram,who liked to listen to rock music while sitting on an upturnedflower pot, was a paranoid schizophrenic.
His preferred listening included songs by Bob Marley, U2,The Beatles and John Lennon.
Psychiatrist Phillip Joseph said Abram’s mental health hadbegun to get worse after last year’s total eclipse of the sunand he had convinced himself that he was on a mission from God.
“He thought George Harrison was the alien from hell,” Josephsaid. “He thought the Beatles were witches flying on broomsticksfrom hell.”
‘Where Does the Squire Live?’
Abram, a former drug addict from the Beatles’ home town ofLiverpool, decided to confront Harrison at the musician’sestate, Friar Park, at Henley-on-Thames, west of London.
The court heard how Abram walked into a local church and,according to prosecution lawyer Simon Mayo, asked: “Can you tellme where the squire lives?”
The vicar, David Buskill, at first thought Abram was seekingGod, but then realized he was looking for Harrison.
Father of two Abram stabbed Harrison in the chest in afrenzied attack at his 120-room Gothic mansion, leaving thereclusive musician literally within an inch of his life.
The seven-inch knife Abram wielded missed Harrison’s heartby just one inch, leaving him with a collapsed lung — and senta chilling echo of the murder of Beatle John Lennon by aderanged fan in New York City in 1980.
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