Mom says black shadows made her stab ‘the Devil’ out of two children over 100 times: Psychiatrist

A psychiatrist testified during court on Wednesday in a DuPage, Illinois, courtroom, that a woman who stabbed two children to death nearly five years ago thought she was “doing the right thing” after she saw black shadows and thought she was getting rid of the Devil.

Chicago Tribune reports that Elzbieta Plackowska killed her son, 7-year-old Justin Plackowska, and a child she was babysitting, 5-year-old Olivia Dworakowski, on Oct. 30, 2012. Dr. Phillip Resnick, who took the stand for over four hours at Plackowska’s trial, said the suspect thought the children were possessed and that she tried to save them by killing them.

“Ms. Plackowska had a psychotic belief that devils had entered Olivia and Justin and that by taking their lives, she was allowing the children to enter heaven,” Resnick explained.

Apparently, the shadow figures convinced Plackowska to “kill them, kill them.”

Officers found the children stabbed inside a condo in Naperville, where Olivia’s mother lived. Olivia’s mother was working a night shift as a nurse when the incident occurred while Plackowska babysat the child, along with her son. Plackowska also stabbed two family dogs to death on the same night in question. According to authorities, she stabbed Justin around 100 times and the little girl around 50 times.

Hours after the killings occurred, Plackowska told police she had an unhappy marriage and a miserable life, which were the primary motivating factors behind the stabbings. Yet, Resnick, who examined her around 10 days after the incident, said that she was intimidated into saying an unhappy life and marriage made her kill her children for attention from her truck driver husband.

The psychiatrist testified that Plackowska said something took over her and made her carry out the stabbings. Further, he said it was impossible for someone to fake symptoms of mania and psychosis for as many days as Plackowska did. He also said the death of the suspect’s father earlier that month triggered her into a “descent into psychosis.”

Resnick faced cross-examination on Thursday, where prosecutors claimed that the suspect was well aware of her actions, and used the imaginary shadow figures as a way to alleviate her own guilt. Prosecutors said Plackowska did several things after the stabbings that indicated she knew right from wrong, such as covering up the murder weapon with dishes in the sink, locking the front door that was usually left unlocked, and throwing away her cellphone.

Check back with CrimeOnline for additional coverage on the case.

[Feature Photo: Handout]