Closing arguments began on Thursday in the trial of Mark Dobson who is charged with murder following the deaths of his girlfriend and a woman in 2012 at a Barrie hotel.

The defence argued Dobson suffered from a psychotic disorder that influenced his satanic beliefs and drove him to kill Mary Hepburn and Helen Dorrington at the Barrie Travelodge hotel.

The court has heard the tree made a satanic suicide pact with the belief they would reunite in an afterlife on another planet. The court also heard there was a deadline to commit the act.

In his closing statement, Mitch Eisen told the judge that Dobson suffered from schizophrenia when he slit the women’s throats and should be found not criminally responsible.

“He believed in his mind if he doesn’t kill them with this knife that they’re not going to make it,” Eisen said in court. “It’s not just magical thinking, it’s delusional.”

Eisen said Dobson had developed psychotic symptoms when he was a teenager, symptoms the defence said progressed and influenced his satanic beliefs reportedly being able to communicate with demons who told him how to kill the women.

The defence pointed out psychiatrists who assessed Dobson days and weeks after his arrest diagnosed him with schizophrenia. The defence says Dobson still suffers from it and is a risk to commit suicide.

The Crown argues Dobson was not suffering from a psychotic disorder when he killed the women and knew that it was legally or morally wrong.

Crown attorney Shannon Curry pointed out that Dobson admitted to hotel staff and emergency responders that he killed the women but made no mention of Satan or of travel to another planet.

The Crown also made reference to Dobson’s statement to police 27 hours after the incident  when he admitted to killing the women and how he did it.

“He’s clearly describing his through process as his own,” says Curry in court. “He clearly knew how quickly he had to move and where precisely he had to cut to maximize blood loss…a lot of detail for someone who is in a psychotic state.”

The Crown pointed out that Dobson said in his statement to police that he knew if he didn’t kill himself he would go to jail and the Crown argues by saying that Dobson realized it was legally wrong.

The Crown will finish its closing arguments on Friday.