Mental Illness `led To Killing'
Illawarra Mercury
Thursday April 13, 2000
An apprentice mechanic who believed his former boss had placed a curse on him was found not guilty yesterday of murder on the grounds of mental illness.
Justice Virginia Bell, in the NSW Supreme Court, said David Buonomo had been suffering a paranoid schizophrenic illness when he stabbed Dominic Portelli to death at Fairy Meadow on October 20, 1998.
She said Buonomo, 25, had told psychiatrists he believed Mr Portelli, 40, had cursed him and the only way to stop it was to kill him.
Mr Portelli's throat had been cut and he was stabbed in the face, neck and chest.
When Mr Portelli's de facto had discovered his body, ``the scene was horrific".
Buonomo also had doused Mr Portelli's body in aftershave and set it alight as a sacrifice to God.
She ordered that Buonomo remain at the Long Bay Prison hospital until he was assessed by the Mental Health Tribunal as no longer being a threat to himself or the public.
© 2000 Illawarra Mercury