Each murder trial brings its own tangle of evidence, legal parameters, medical factors, social circumstances, and personalities. The tangle gets trickier when we must keep in mind that: "A person shall not be criminally responsible for an act or omission if they suffer from a mental disorder such that they were not able to appreciate the nature and quality of their act or to know that it was wrong."

Forensic Psychiatrist Stanley Semrau takes us through some of the more terrible and fascinating tales from his career and from historical sources, including several cases that came to...