Tragic Father Looses Mind Kills Daughter

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I have just posted prior to this five quite depressing reports, I promised myself that I would endeavour to fill the rest of today's postings with things, if not altogether uplifting then at least try to get away from reporting the downers.

I read this story yesterday and it's such a tragedy that I thought it worthy of mention.
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The horrific scene when a devoted father "flipped" and battered his two-year-old daughter to death was described to a court yesterday.

Insurance executive Alberto Izaga suffered an "extreme and sudden" psychological breakdown which made him think the little girl was possessed by the Devil.

Sweating and shouting with rage, the 36-year-old millionaire ranted that "God doesn't exist! The universe doesn't exist! Humanity doesn't exist!"


His terrified wife was powerless to stop him as he shook and punched their only child before repeatedly smashing her head against the floor.

The Old Bailey heard that psychiatrists cannot say what triggered Mr Izaga's psychotic meltdown.

Shortly before the tragedy, however, he had been affected by seeing a horror film made by the director of The Exorcist.

Spanish-born Mr Izaga, who is being held in a secure mental hospital, appeared unable to take in what was being said as he sat in court.

He was supported by a large family group, including his parents, who have moved to Britain so they can visit him in hospital.

His wife, Ligia, 35, who also visits him every day, sat two seats away. Before the trial started the couple spoke amicably and during the lunch break they held hands.

Before last June's tragedy, Mr Izaga appeared to be living a charmed life. He had moved to London in 2002 and was a top executive at the insurance giant Swiss Re.

He lived with his wife and their daughter Yanire in a £1million Thames-side apartment with views of the Houses of Parliament.

The jury was told Mr Izaga was "universally liked" and "absolutely devoted" to his daughter, whom he described as "the most precious treasure on Earth".

But prosecutor Jonathan Rees told the jury how, in the weeks before the attack, Mr Izaga experienced two events that may have influenced his mental state.

The first was during a trip to New York, when Mr Izaga and his wife went to a cinema to find the only seats available were for the horror film Bug, directed by William Friedkin.

Not yet released in Britain, it concerns a swarm of cockroaches which crawl under people's skin, as well as Biblical themes.

Alberto and Ligia on their wedding day

Then, on a business trip to Geneva, Mr Izaga heard a motivational talk by adventurer Mike Horn, who spoke about leaving his family to go on lengthy trips and pushing himself to achieve his goals.

The evening after he returned, Mr Izaga was walking to a riverside restaurant with his wife when he started talking to himself and gesticulating wildly.

At around 4.30am the following day, he suddenly sat up in bed and started babbling incoherently.


Mr Rees told the court: "He began talking to his wife about the explorer in Geneva and the philosophies of the Jesuits.

"Referring to his fellow executives at Swiss Re, he appeared to indicate that they were part of a sect and trying to take over the financial world."

Over the next four hours Mr Izaga became increasingly worked up, bursting into tears and shouting about the film, the Devil and death.

At one point, his wife made a mobile phone call to a friend who recorded Mr Izaga raving in Spanish: "Death! Death! I know what to do. I have to kill her! She doesn't exist! Die Die Die! There is nothing left! I have to kill you!"

Neighbours, alerted by the shouting, went to the flat and found Mr Izaga cradling his daughter's bloody body.

Yanire died in hospital two days later.

Consultant psychiatrist Tim Exworthy said Mr Izaga may have thought she was possessed by the Devil. He said he remains profoundly mentally ill.

In a statement read to the court Mrs Izaga said: "It's impossible to believe this has happened. The best times were when the three of us were together and Yanire would start singing because she was so happy. She became our life."


In an unusual legal move, the prosecution and defence agreed on the facts of the case.

Under the 1883 Trial of Lunatics Act the jury found that Mr Izaga killed his daughter but was not guilty of murder "by reason of insanity".

The verdict means he will be treated in a secure mental unit until he is believed to have recovered.

After the hearing, his wife said: "I visit Alberto every day and we write to each other every other day. We discuss how we should re- start our lives. We tell each other not to give up."

Judge Richard Hone said: "This is a truly agonising case. No sentence I pass can ever match the sentence you will pass on yourself."source