Murder case in which man 'thought victim was werewolf' ends in mistrial

Pankaj Bhasin pleads insanity after breaking Bradford Jackson’s neck and stabbing him 53 times with box cutter

Pankaj Bhasin told doctors he killed Bradford Jackson because he began turning into a werewolf. (Alexandria Police)

A Virginia judge has declared a mistrial in a murder case in which the defendant claims he thought his victim was a werewolf.

Pankaj Bhasin, 34, killed 65-year-old Bradford Jackson, who managed Window Universe in Old Town Alexandria on 13 July 2018.

After entering the victim's store, Bhasin broke the man's neck and stabbed him 53 times with a box cutter, WRC-TV reported.

Jurors were dismissed after three days of deliberations at Alexandria Circuit Court ended in a deadlock. They were unable to come to a unanimous decision by reason of insanity.

Bhasin, who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, told doctors he believed Jackson began turning into a werewolf at the time of the attack

According to police records, he told officers there was “still time to save 99 per cent of the moon and planets,“ following his arrest.

Prosecutors and defence attorneys agreed Bhasin was mentally ill.

Bhasin’s lawyers said their client was suffering delusions at the time of the attack after checking out of a psychiatric hospital near his New Jersey home just days earlier but prosecutor David Lord said the defendant exaggerated his symptoms to justify the killing.

Defence lawyer Peter Greenspun said: “We will continue to pursue a finding of not guilty by reason of insanity allowing him to get the help he so clearly needs in a secure state mental health facility.”

However, Bennett Moore, a close friend of the victim called Bhasin's story "bogus".

He told Fox 5 DC: "That is just unbelievable to me. I can’t even fathom that. That sounds like a completely bogus defence. You know the brutality of this is just, you know, off the charts. I mean I can’t imagine that that could hold up. That doesn’t hold water to me."