In gruesome defense, he declared what preceded the crime and then was shocked: “Maybe I killed someone else, but I don’t remember.

I drank three liters of wine that day, a few cans of beer, I drank five grams of marijuana and 10 milliliters of the drug “G”, and my behavior was never destructive, it was always self-destructive. drinks for 48 hours, none of this would happen, because I planned to volunteer for alcoholism treatment on those days. “

Grahovac is accused of brutally killing elderly woman Jelica Tatarovski (82) from Nis on the night between August 31 and September 1, 2019, with 26 stab wounds and eight blows with a hammer for greed in her apartment in Dr. Zoran Djindjic Boulevard in Nis and later stole 760 euros. After the crime, he fled to Belgrade, where he was arrested a few days later.

“If he had been influenced by everything he said, he would not have been able to do it.”

Dr Veselin Pečenica, chairman of the expert commission of the Belgrade Special Penitentiary Hospital, stated that based on the analysis of personalities and court records, the expert commission concluded that Grahovac’s behavior was “significantly rational” and the control of the procedures under “dominant will”.

Asked by VJT MP Andrija Ivić that if Grahovac took the aforementioned amount of alcohol and drugs for certain, he could enter the building several times, change his clothes, dodge the cameras, go to the hospital and then to Belgrade, Dr. Pečenica pointed out that all this would certainly affect his motor ability, which would be reduced.

– Considering that he states that he also consumed the drug “hee”, it would be expected that the effect of alcohol would be emphasized because everything has a depressive effect on the central nervous system. For these reasons, we believe that the other capabilities of the accused would be compromised, in addition to the amnesia that he expresses in his defense. When the commission made the first finding, before presenting the defendant’s defense, it was assessed that he was not insane at the time of committing the crime. After the presentation of the defense, there is a great disproportion between the factual situation and their subjective attitude towards the criminal act. We consider that you could not commit the offense in question on the assumption that you consumed all the substances listed. If he had consumed all of the above, urgent medical help would have been needed due to dizziness, sedation and drowsiness, and he would not have been able to perform all actions in a motorized way – explained Dr. Pečenica.

Responding to the question of Dr. Zoran Ciric, expert defense advisor, if the experts had in mind that Grahovac was treated for abuse and how it affected the development of his personality, Dr. Pecenica pointed out that they took this fact into account when they concluded that with the defendant there is only a borderline personality disorder.

Noting that Grahovac has been treated for depression since 2016, Dr. Ciric asked if the illness could be classified as a temporary mental illness, but Dr. Pecenica denied this.

Dr. Pečenica also said that addiction to a large number of psychoactive substances and alcohol does not represent mental illness in the legal sense, as the defense emphasizes. He explained that the accused consumed psychoactive substances during his life and that over time there was a polytoxic addiction, which is why drug addicts were given the treatment measure in a health institution, and not alcoholism treatment because the first measure it is broader in nature.

In 10 minutes, he inflicted 50 serious injuries.

Defense Advisor Dr. Ciric also asked Dr. Pecenica to assess whether 26 stab wounds with significant channel depth, 16 cuts, and 15 severe lacerations were found on the body of the murdered woman, equivalent to a total out of 50 serious injuries inflicted in the 10-15 minute period, can you indicate Grahovac’s state of mind? Before responding, VJT deputy Ivic responded, noting that the indictment alleges that the injuries were inflicted over a period of “10 to 15 minutes and probably longer”, which must be taken into account.

– The number of injuries, the intensity of the imposition and the duration of the imposition can indirectly indicate the mental state of the accused at the time of the commission of the crime charged. If we have a situation in which a large number of injuries have been inflicted, especially if they are intense and in a very short period of time, this may indicate an affective condition. In the second situation, especially in the second time period, this possibility is excluded and suggests a tendency for the work started to be completed – Dr. Pečenica pointed out.

Defense disputes expertise

The court also heard defense lawyer Dr. Ciric, who made a series of comments on the conclusions of the expert from the Special Penitentiary Hospital in Belgrade, considering that it was incomplete and with “significant deficiencies”. It considers that the development of the defendant’s personality occurred in unfavorable family circumstances due to the brutality shown by his father and was subsequently sexually abused at age 5, which resulted in a disorder – disharmony of the personality, which was later followed by mental disorders. -Depression, which he says is a temporary mental illness, and addiction to psychoactive substances.

The court accepted defense attorney Jelena Arsić’s proposal to hear from an expert from the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Nis, Dr. Radovan Karadzic, about how many injuries were inflicted on the old woman’s body while she was alive, how much force was inflicted on her, its mechanics and intensity. The trial will continue on December 21.

I may have killed someone before but I don’t remember

In his previous defense in court, Grahovac said that he was guilty because he could not dispute the forensic evidence, but that he did not recall the murder because it had already happened to him that he had black holes in his memory when he mixed large amounts of alcohol and drugs. He said that in his youth, his father brutally beat him and his friend raped him when he was 5 years old. Due to the trauma, he indulged in alcohol, drugs, and prostitution.

When he found out that he was HIV positive, he went to Nis to see his ex-partner and girlfriend, but they beat him, so he got drunk and took the drug “hee”, which causes aggression. As he claims, he wanted to jump off the treadmill, but then lost his memory, and the next thing he says he remembers is that he is on a bus from Belgrade with his arm wrapped.

– It never crossed my mind what had happened. It has happened to me before that I have black holes in my memory when I mix alcohol and narcotics. Maybe I killed someone else in that state before, without remembering it, Grahovac said earlier in his court speech.