Killer of Wife, Baby Ruled Insane by Judge

Joseph Lynch, once described as a devoted family man, was found not guilty by reason of insanity Tuesday for the savage beating death of his wife and baby with a champagne bottle at their Santa Ana condominium last year.

Lynch, a Scottish national, listened solemnly as Orange County Superior Court Judge Francisco Briseno first found him guilty of two counts of second-degree murder and then determined that he was insane at the time of the brutal killings.

“I find that you were legally insane due to a mental disorder or defect and you were incapable of knowing or distinguishing between right and wrong,” the judge told Lynch, whose condition was diagnosed as manic-depressive in 1986.

Lynch, a 44-year-old electrical engineer, could be hospitalized in a prison institution for the criminally insane for the rest of his life for murdering his wife Helen, 35, and his 14-month-old baby, Natalie.

Briseno added in court that he believed Lynch’s mental illness was so severe that he doubts Lynch will ever be released. Under the law, Lynch could be released if doctors believe his sanity is restored. A hearing has been set for June 4 to determine which hospital will house Lynch.

“It’s a great relief. We have always said that hospitalization was the only justice we could hope for,” said Mary Shand, Lynch’s sister, who lives in Scotland and cares for his two remaining daughters.

“Joe obviously needs help,” Shand said when reached by telephone. “We were all hoping and praying for this. The thought of him in a prison was not something we wanted to think about. Joe’s not robust. He’s not a large man.”

Shand said Lynch’s daughters “will be pleased their father will be getting help.” Holly and Angela, who were 9 and 5, respectively, at the time of the slayings, “are coping very well,” but miss their father, she said.

The bludgeoned bodies of Helen Lynch and baby Natalie were discovered by police around midnight Jan. 17, 1989, after Lynch called an emergency 911 number and reported that a “terrible emergency . . . murder” had occurred at his home.

Before police arrived at the scene, Lynch set the telephone down, and as the minutes ticked by, the police dispatcher listened to thumping noises and screaming and crying--sounds the prosecutor claims were of Natalie being beaten to death.

Officers testified that when they entered the blood-splattered condominium that morning they found Lynch standing naked, laughing and gesturing toward his dead wife.

He admitted to police that he had killed his wife and even told them that he had put the champagne bottle in the dishwasher.

Helen Lynch was found lying on her back on the floor with the baby nestled in one of her arms. She had been struck at least 10 times on the head with the bottle. Natalie, who also suffered head injuries, died two days later.

Holly and Angela were found unharmed, hiding in their beds under the covers. Lynch’s blood-soaked clothing was found draped over the baby’s crib, according to testimony.

Two psychiatrists who examined Lynch after the murders testified that Lynch was in a psychotic state and was legally insane at the time of the killings.

If Briseno had decided Lynch was sane during the murders, he could have faced a maximum of 30 years to life in prison.

In initially finding Lynch guilty of second-degree, rather than first-degree, murder, the judge ruled that Lynch did not premeditate the grisly slayings.

By his ruling, the judge also accepted Deputy Dist. Atty. James Cloninger’s argument that Lynch was consciously aware of what he was doing. But the judge agreed with Deputy Public Defender Brian Ducker, who argued that Lynch was so mentally impaired he couldn’t distinguish between right and wrong.

Lynch’s condition was diagnosed as manic-depressive and he was briefly hospitalized in 1986 after assaulting his wife and another daughter, Angela, who was a toddler at the time.

After his hospitalization four years ago, Lynch began taking the drug lithium to control his bizarre, aggressive behavior, according to testimony. But just six months before the murders, Lynch stopped the medication because it was affecting his work and his employers had complained about his deteriorating job performance.

Friends of the Lynches testified during the trial that in the weeks before the murders, Lynch began exhibiting strange behavior. Sharon Portman, Helen Lynch’s best friend, testified that she was in fear of her husband and concerned about his indifference to her and to the baby. The prosecution suggested during the trial that marital problems may have been a motive for murder.

Helen Lynch, according to Portman, tried desperately to reach Lynch’s psychiatrist the day before the murders. She finally reached the doctor and he set an appointment for him at 10 a.m. the following morning. But by then, Helen Lynch and the baby were dead.

During a tape-recorded interview with police just hours after the murders, Lynch said: “I just felt I’d beat her up a bit . . . for her own good . . . ‘cause I loved her.” But he denied intentionally harming the baby.

Lynch later told Dr. Kashal Sharma, a psychiatrist who examined him at the jail, that just before the incident he believed “someone else had taken over his wife’s body” and that “she was not a human being.” He told the psychiatrist the incident was like being in a dream and when he was hitting his wife on the head with the champagne bottle “it was an expression of love.”

Lynch later told another psychiatrist that after killing his wife he took his clothes off and crawled into bed with one of his daughters. When the doctor asked him why, Lynch responded: “I just lost my wife.”