The most recent article makes an indication that the killer has a mental health history, although the extent to which that is involved in the killing is unclear at this time.
Times Herald Follow Up
Officials piecing together murder
By: DAN KELLEY, Times Herald Staff
04/22/2005
NORRISTOWN - Investigators are still trying to put all the pieces together in a puzzle that led to the death of a woman on the 400 block of East Moore Street Tuesday.
The murder victim, Karen Jackson, was stabbed 27 times, allegedly by her 18-year-old son, Derek Wayne Jackson, because she would not let him open a new Internet account.
Prosecutors are now describing Jackson as an emotionally troubled young man who received counseling for unspecified behavioral problems from the Devereux Foundation, a mental-health service.
According to court documents, Derek Jackson used six separate knives to stab his mother. He then allegedly wrapped her body in sheets and plastic.
Police discovered the incident after a family friend asked them to check on Karen Jackson's well being.
"It's still early in the investigation for us," District Attorney Bruce L. Castor Jr. said. "We know through family that he had mental health issues. Things like that are only of value to us if they excuse a crime."
He said Jackson's mental health issues do not excuse the crime, though the district attorney's office is preparing for a potential insanity defense.
Castor pointed to allegations that Jackson attempted to conceal his alleged crime by hiding bloody clothes in the back of a car as proof that he knew what he was doing.
Several members of the Jackson family took part in interviews with detectives at the Norristown police station yesterday.
The article continues beyond this point, discussing some community policing and making reference to several unrelated drug murders in the neighborhood.