Trigger Warning: The article contains graphic descriptions of murder. Reader discretion is advised.
A wealthy New York man has been found not guilty by reason of insanity despite killing his father at a luxury resort in Ireland. The case has left people shocked because of the tragic family story and the mental health defense.
The accused, Henry McGowan, 31, admitted to killing his 66-year-old father, John McGowan, on November 12, 2024, at the luxury hotel Ballyfin Demesne in Ireland’s Midlands. However, he also admitted suffering from severe mental illness at the time.
During an interview with detectives, as released by The Journal, McGowan described the chilling night of the murder and explained how he did things. He told them, “I counted to 49, and when I got to 49, he was breathing and had a pulse.”
“I counted on 20 seconds longer, and he stopped. He kept gasping for air, I would not let go. I was seething and physically tired.. once he hit his head and was on the ground he wasn’t resisting. I then put a full fist into his throat using my full force.” McGowan added.
Continuing his story, the 31-year-old noted, “I pushed down with both hands on his Adam’s apple but he kept breathing. I then put full force on his throat with my knuckles…. It was shocking how long it took. I say it took in the region of eight minutes.”
A consultant psychiatrist has told the Central Criminal Court that Henry McGowan was suffering from a mental disorder when he killed his father at a Laois hotel in 2024, believing he had been replaced by an “evil imposter”.#VMNews pic.twitter.com/3dVyyfZWee
— Virgin Media News (@VirginMediaNews) February 11, 2026
McGowan further claimed he believed his father was not real and thought he was “ordained by God to kill my father, like he was a source of evil”. The case was heard at the Central Criminal Court, where it was discovered that John McGowan had traveled from the U.S. on a “mission of mercy” to help his son.
Unfortunately, in the midst of a mental health crisis, the 31-year-old New Yorker failed to recognize his father and brutally killed him. The case was studied by two psychiatrists, who told the 12 jurors that McGowan was suffering from schizoaffective disorder when he killed his father.
The jurors accepted the evidence and delivered a unanimous verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity after less than 90 minutes of discussion. Defense counsel Michael Bowman SC, and Olan Callanan BL submitted the case as a “particularly tragic” one, where a father’s paternal instinct led to fatal consequences.
The jury of six men and six women spent just one hour and 23 minutes debating the case based on active mental illness, before delivering a unanimous verdict of not guilty. After their verdict, Justice Paul McDermott thanked the jury and called the case “very difficult”, while expressing sympathy to the family.
This detail from the Henry McGowan case as reported by the New York Times should have been in the RTE report given its specificity to Ireland: “He followed lights and signs to the city [Dublin]. He saw a train that said “At Henry” — …
— Frank Galton 🇺🇦 (@FrankGalton) February 11, 2026
After hearing about Henry McGowan’s long history of mental illness, where he was first admitted to the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York in 2022 after a manic episode, and later to the Sainte-Anne psychiatric hospital in Paris due to severe paranoid delusions.
The court ordered McGowan to be sent to the Central Mental Hospital where he will receive psychiatric treatment and assessment before his scheduled return to court on February 20. Legal experts have shared their opinions on this case explaining how things involving severe mental illness are often complex and emotional.
