Expert Witness Blog

Jennifer Kukla says a voice inside her head told her to murder her children in order to save them from an even worse fate. Kukla allegedly fatally stabbed her two children, Alexandra, 8, and Ashley, 5, inside their Macomb Township, MI trailer home. Forensic psychology expert witness Dr. George Watson of the Center for Forensic Psychology told the Macomb Circuit jury that "In her misguided, deluded way, she thought she was protecting her children." Watson testified he felt Kukla was legally insane on Feb. 4, when she allegedly fatally stabbed her two children. DetroitNews.com writes Kukla told the expert witness:

...during his evaluation in March that the voice she was hearing was benign at first -- 'but as the evening went on, she said the nature of the voice became sinister and threatening,' Watson said. 'The voice told her that her children were in danger. It was the devil or a demon, telling her she had to kill them in order to prevent something worse happening to them.' After Kukla allegedly stabbed her children, along with three dogs and a pet mouse, she sat outside her trailer and 'waited for a vehicle to take her to hell,' Watson testified. Watson said he reached his determination of Kukla's insanity based on tests he administered, along with other witnesses who saw Kukla apparently talking to someone who wasn't there.