LI Woman Not Criminally Responsible In Tourist's Stabbing Death

GREAT NECK, NY — A judge has ruled that a Great Neck woman accused of stabbing a British tourist to death at her home was not criminally responsible by reason of mental disease or defect, according to reports.

Faye Doomchin, 68, experienced a "moment of schizophrenia psychosis" when she stabbed Denise Webster to death with a kitchen knife in August 2018, Acting Supreme Court Justice Robert Bogle said Wednesday, according to Newsday. The verdict was delivered via videoconference due to the coronavirus pandemic following a week-long, non-jury trial. It was reportedly the first hybrid criminal trial in the state.

Online court records confirmed Doomchin was found not responsible.

Doomchin's attorneys never argued that Doomchin killed Webster, 61, but made the case that her mental health challenges — she'd struggled with schizophrenia for decades — meant she didn't realize the consequences of her actions, Newsday reported.

On Aug. 13, 2018, Doomchin stabbed Webster inside her North Road home, Nassau County police said at the time. Webster had a mutual male friend with Doomchin and was visiting from England. Doomchin stabbed the woman in the chest with a kitchen knife to "rid the house of evil." Webster died at a hospital and Doomchin was charged with 2nd-degree murder.

Notably, Doomchin was arrested in a separate nonfatal stabbing at a real estate office in 1999. In that case, the then-47-year-old pleaded not responsible by reason of mental disease or defect. In that case, she received about 10 years of outpatient mental illness treatment, Newsday reported.