Henry McGowan, the American man accused of murdering his father in Ireland amid a psychotic break, tried to seize a passenger’s baby on a flight to Paris in 2022, more than two years before his father’s death, prosecutors testified on Wednesday. He said he felt compelled to kill the infant.
The Paris incident, detailed in a Dublin courtroom, offered a disturbing glimpse into the yearslong lead-up to Nov. 12, 2024, when Mr. McGowan is accused of killing his father at a luxury hotel. He believed he was on a mission from God and that his father was an evil impostor in a global conspiracy.
Mr. McGowan has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, a verdict that the prosecutors, defense lawyers and court psychiatrists have agreed is a reasonable outcome of the case.
On Wednesday, the harrowing testimony demonstrated how difficult it is to prevent a violent mental health crisis, even when family members and others try to interrupt the cycle. In 2022, and again in 2024, medical professionals intercepted Mr. McGowan just hours before a psychotic episode — and in each case, those professionals determined he was of sound mind and did not take him into custody.
In court, lawyers, police and medical professionals described in detail their anguished, cat-and-mouse efforts to find Mr. McGowan in Ireland in November 2024, after hearing from police officials in London that he would be arriving at the Dublin Airport and required a welfare check. Despite having missed his arrival, an Irish police officer tore through the airport complex and at one point even stopped a late-night bus that was headed out of Dublin and toward Portlaoise, where Mr. McGowan’s family had reported that he was most likely staying.
But by then, Mr. McGowan was on foot in the city’s outskirts. He shed his clothes, threw out his passport and ran toward the city. He would later say that he believed he was a prophet, subject to messages from beyond. He followed lights and signs to the city. He saw a train that said “At Henry” — it was actually a train for Athenry, a town two hours west — and took it as a sign. He felt called to go to a hospital, as part of his “test” to save the world.
He arrived at the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital and told a nurse he was experiencing delusions. But he did not share the same information with psychiatrists, who determined he was not in the midst of a mental health crisis.
By then, Mr. McGowan had reunited with his father, John McGowan, 66, who had taken a frantic redeye to Dublin to intercept his troubled son. Doctors discharged the younger Mr. McGowan with a prescription and instructions to return if he required further treatment.
At the time, family members voiced repeated concern to hospital officials that Mr. McGowan was good at masking symptoms and had fooled psychiatrists before. But in court on Wednesday, officials lamented that without clear evidence that Mr. McGowan was violent, it would have been difficult to lawfully detain or commit him.
Mr. McGowan would later describe his visit to the hospital as part of his delusion, saying he viewed the psychiatric evaluation as a “test” that he had successfully passed.
Five hours later, John McGowan was dead, and Henry McGowan had confessed to the killing, prosecutors said.
The incident bore disturbing similarities to the one on the plane in March 2022. At the time, Mr. McGowan was in the midst of what would later be known as his first diagnosed psychotic episode. Under close watch, he sneaked away from family members at his apartment in Brooklyn, rushed to the Newark airport and bought a plane ticket to Paris.
Just as they had in Dublin, his family attempted a rescue. Through contacts with law enforcement, a family member was able to reach authorities, who dispatched medics to check on Mr. McGowan’s welfare at the terminal. But he masked his symptoms, was deemed fine and boarded his flight, prosecutors said on Wednesday.
Hours later, Mr. McGowan, 30,000 feet in the air, determined that he needed to perform a ritual sacrifice of an infant — and there was one on the plane. According to testimony read in court, he approached a couple and tried to take their infant, who was in a bassinet.
The incident was so disturbing to flight attendants that Mr. McGowan was arrested when he got off the plane at Orly Airport in Paris. He spent the next month at a psychiatric hospital in the city.
In hindsight, officials remarked on Wednesday, the two episodes exemplified how easily Mr. McGowan was able to mask his psychosis.
“Perhaps you could call it a missed opportunity,” a court psychiatrist said of his discharge from Mater Hospital. But, the doctor said, cases like Mr. McGowan’s were always subject to devastating hindsight.
Ali Watkins covers international news for The Times and is based in Belfast.
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