A man killed his partner of 20 years in a brutal hammer attack after being overcome with an ‘irresistible impulse’ due to a rare mental health disorder. Daniel Mitchell, 48, was suffering with a severe catatonic depression never seen before by a senior psychiatrist, when he repeatedly struck Alexis Karran with a hammer.
The 49-year-old radiographer, from Dukinfield, sadly died as a result of her injuries. The couple had been in a seemingly happy relationship for years, but his deteriorating mental health led him to commit the unlawful killing.
Twenty minutes after attacking Alexis at their home on Winchester Road, Mitchell called the police and said he had ‘just killed his partner’. He later told consultant forensic psychiatrist Dr Melanie Higgins: “The night before I don’t recall, but I didn’t have much sleep. I woke up, we were planning a Sunday dinner and friends were coming round.
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“I started the day with trying to put some pictures up, however the task felt like the biggest chore in the world. I just picked up [the hammer] and hit her with it, I don’t know why. I don’t know why but I went on hitting her until I thought she was dead."
He later said that once he started he was ‘unable to stop’, describing it like an ‘out of body experience’. “I must be some sort of monster to do this to any person,” he added, describing Alexis as his ‘soul mate and best friend’.
Mitchell pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, and was handed a hospital order with restrictions. This means he will remain in a high security hospital until he is deemed fit to be released by a medical tribunal.
Manchester Crown Court heard that there had been no previous suggestion of violence or abuse, and that a police investigation into Alexis’ death revealed no evidence of any ‘malicious motive’.
The couple had recently moved to their new home on Winchester Road, in Dukinfield, from Stalybridge. Mitchell previously suffered from depression, but nothing to suggest a risk of him becoming unwell.
“He had a poor tolerance to noise, but was in a happy and stable relationship with Alexis,” prosecutor Tania Griffiths KC told the court. “They moved to Dukinfield with the hope of providing the defendant with some respite that was more therapeutic, but there was protracted building work which became overwhelming in order to make the house a home.
“Then the COVID pandemic hit and affected his freelance work [as an illustrator] which led him to become more isolated and he felt he was less supported, especially when Alexis was at work. There was no reason for anyone to think his mental health was different than it had been previously.”
However, in August last year, Mitchell’s mental health began to spiral and he became suicidal. He had the support from his close-knit family, was under the care of his GP and community mental health team and was involved with his local crisis centre, the court heard.
There was a suggestion during a routine appointment that he would have been admitted to hospital, but for the fact he had his family around to care for him. “There was nothing to alert anyone this was anything other than a depressive episode,” the prosecutor continued.
Mitchell had also asked for ‘Divine Intervention’, and asked others to pray for him. There was a change to his medication which doctors were hoping would kick in, but a few days later he killed Alexis.
“Whether anyone could have done more, or whether he could have done more is not the point in this case. The illness was not simply being ignored. He received significant help from Alexis and had taken steps to help himself,” Ms Griffiths said.
It would later become apparent that he was suffering with a rare form of depression whilst in a catatonic state, which Dr Higgins would later say was the first time she had seen such a condition arise in these circumstances.
On September 15 of last year, Mitchell suffered a ‘massive nervous breakdown’ triggered by building work. In messages read to the court, Alexis described him as being in ‘utter despair’.
“His poor brain is just broken with stress and despair,” she wrote. In another message she checked in with him asking: “You OK, darling?” And he told her he was, writing: “I love you so much.”
She also messaged his sister, Louise, outlining her struggles to cope with his state of mind, explaining that she was worried about leaving him to go to the shops.
On November 6 of last year, half an hour before she was killed, she messaged Mitchell’s sister saying they had been preparing vegetables and a nut roast the night before which kept him ‘occupied’ and seemed to ‘calm him’.
That morning Mitchell went on to attack her, hitting her 20 times with severe force to the head with a claw hammer, in an unprovoked attack. A post mortem report found she had multiple head and scalp injuries which were ‘unsurvivable’.
He was arrested and found unfit to be interviewed as he was ‘mentally unwilling’, groaning and not responding to questions. Mitchell was taken to Tameside hospital where he underwent a CT scan which came back as normal, before he was sectioned under the Mental Health Act.
Alexis was described by friends and family as ‘happy, selfless and one of the kindest people they know’. They said she ‘deeply loved’ Mitchell and tried hard to support and help him ‘put his demons to rest’.
One friend described her losing weight over the preceding months before her death, that clothes were ‘hanging off her’ and that she had ‘lost her sparkle’.
Alexis’ brother, Leo, said in a statement: “I looked up to Lex all my life, she was a sage. Before all this I was so close to her and felt close to Dan too. To me they seemed to have the ideal relationship, and their love for each other was what I aspired to have.
“If she was here she would have said: “I’m so sorry this happened to you, Dan, that things got so bad for you”. It's difficult to think of life in the future without my big sister being in it.”
Mitchell was said to have no previous convictions on his record. Two psychiatrists giving evidence at court both agreed that he was suffering from a recurrent depressive disorder leading to catatonia at the time of the offence.
They said this reduced his ability to exercise control and rational judgement. Dr Higgins said: “It’s clear at the time this occurred, Mr Mitchell had been life-threateningly ill himself. This was entirely unbeknownst to his friends and family and completely out of the depth of his GP - it is very rarely seen in the modern psychiatric era.”
She said upon his admission to Ashworth hospital, he was given four times the normal dose of a sedative drug which would put a ‘normal person’ to sleep, in order to ‘bring him back to life’. Dr John Crosby, another consultant forensic psychiatrist, agreed that Mitchell was subject to an ‘irresistible impulse’ at the time.
His barrister, Ronnie Bergenthal said it was ‘difficult to imagine’ a more tragic case. “In 30 years of practice, I can’t think of a more tragic case than the case involving Alexis Karran and Daniel Mitchell.”
He described the relationship as one filled with ‘compassion, devotion and happiness’, and said he ‘didn’t seek to proportion blame’. “Clearly there was a cocktail of medication that was tragically not working for his level of depressive condition, and there were no triggers for his actions,” he added.
“On the morning of the offence they were discussing going for a walk when he felt a sudden overwhelming compulsion to hit her with the hammer and he felt powerless to stop this.”
Sentencing Mitchell, who wept throughout the hearing, Judge Alan Conrad KC said: “You and Alexis had a good and strong relationship with no suggestion at any time of any violence or abuse. I am satisfied on everything I have read and heard in this case that, had you been mentally well, you would have been horrified at the thought of inflicting any harm on Alexis.
“At the time you killed Alexis you were suffering from a severe depressive illness together with catatonia, a highly unusual condition and in itself of a serious nature. This case was a terrible tragedy involving two people who loved one another dearly and in which there is no suggestion of any malicious motive.”
Mitchell, of Winchester Road, was sentenced to a section 37 hospital order with a section 41 order under the Mental Health Act.
Senior Investigating Officer Duncan Thorpe, of GMP’s Major Incident Support Unit, said: "My heartfelt condolences go out to Alexis' family and her loved ones. No family, parent, sibling, or friend should ever have to experience the devastating pain of losing a loved one in such an horrific attack.
"Throughout this challenging journey, our dedicated officers have provided support to Alexis' family. Our collective thoughts are with them as they continue to grapple with this profound grief.”
