Canberra man found not guilty in special verdict over mental health unit killing

CONTENT WARNING: This article contains graphic content that may be upsetting.

A court has accepted a man’s “psychotic delusions” were a key factor in the killing of a fellow mental health patient.

Aleu Mapiou, a then-18-year-old from Bonner, and 38-year-old Dusko Culibrk were both patients in Canberra Hospital’s Adult Mental Health Unit in November 2022 when Mapiou killed Mr Culibrk.

Mapiou was accused of murdering Mr Culibrk, pleaded not guilty, and was then committed for trial last year. However, the matter was adjourned several times before prosecutors agreed to accept a special verdict, which would avoid a trial.

In August, Mapiou’s lawyer entered a plea of not guilty by reason of mental impairment on behalf of his client in the ACT Supreme Court.

On Tuesday (22 October), Justice Belinda Baker accepted expert evidence that Mapiou was experiencing an acute episode of schizophrenia at the time of the killing.

“As the result of the psychotic delusions [he was experiencing], the accused believed he was at imminent risk of death if he did not kill [Mr Culibrk],” she said.

Mapiou was experiencing delusions and paranoid thinking that “caused him to lose touch with reality” and drove him to believe he was in danger of being attacked.

“[Mapiou] believed the victim intended to assassinate him,” she said.

According to court documents, the two men met in the mental health unit when they were both admitted.

At around 11:15 pm, two mental health nurses saw that the door to Mr Culibrk’s room was closed.

A nurse used a swipecard to see into the room and saw Mapiou carrying Mr Culibrk’s body. Several staff members were ultimately able to take Mapiou to the de-escalation suite, where he was restrained and sedated.

Nursing staff started CPR and other resuscitation efforts on Mr Culibrk, which carried on for more than 50 minutes before Mr Culibrk was declared dead at about 12:21 am.

A forensic autopsy concluded Mr Culibrk’s cause of death was multiple blunt-force head and neck injuries, as well as a potential strangulation element.

“[Mapiou had] no injuries that were consistent with acting in self-defence,” Justice Baker said.

While he was in police custody after his arrest, Mapiou rubbed moisturiser into his hands, which was the basis for a charge of preventing a forensic procedure from being carried out.

Following the attack, Mapiou claimed it was “self-defence”, though he later told a psychiatrist preparing a report for the court that he didn’t remember this.

Justice Baker said there was “no evidence of actual provocation” by Mr Culibrk.

“There is no suggestion in the evidence that these fears [Mapiou’s fears of violence] were reasonably based on anything that the victim had done,” she said.

She said Mr Culibrk’s “extreme vulnerability” had to be recognised in sentencing, given his own admission into the mental health ward.

In sentencing Mapiou, Justice Baker offered the court’s condolences to Mr Culibrk’s family.

“Their hearts have been broken by their loss and none of them has been able to sleep since the victim’s death,” she said.

Several of Mr Culibrk’s family members were in court for the sentencing. His mother held a photo of Mr Culibrk facing towards Mapiou throughout the hearing.

Justice Baker found Mapiou not guilty by impairment on a charge of murder and a charge of preventing a forensic procedure from being carried out.

In accepting the special verdict, she also had to set an indicative sentence that would apply if the case had proceeded through the normal court process.

She gave the best estimate of a 20-year sentence for the murder charge and three months for the second charge, which would run until December 2042.

“[Under the special verdict, it] will be a matter for the ACT Civic and Administrative Tribunal [ACAT] as to precisely when he is released,” she said.

Mapiou stood with hands folded in front of him and looked at Justice Baker as the verdict was read. He will now be involuntarily detained for a review by ACAT.

If you need help, or someone you know does, you can contact:

Lifeline’s 24-hour crisis support line – 13 11 14
Suicide Call Back Service – 1300 659 467
Kids Helpline – 1800 551 800 or Kids Helpline
MensLine Australia – 1300 789 978 or MensLine.

In a life-threatening emergency, call triple zero.