Addiction Expert On Triple Murder Case

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An addiction expert witness testified Wednesday in Noblesville, IN, that Chad Cottrell was addicted to methamphetamine at the time he killed Trisha Cottrell, 29, and her two daughters from a previous marriage, Brittany Williams, 12, and Victoria “Tori” Williams, 10. Dr. Joseph Wu, an expert in PET scan brain imagining, said Cottrell’s brain showed signs of “abnormalities” in areas that normally regulate social behavior and “impulse” control.

Defense attorney Eric Koselke also called Robert Lee Smith, a psychology expert witness who testified that Cottrell showed signs of possible brain damage, paranoia, and suffered from a “borderline personality disorder.” “The combination of those factors led him not to be able to control his impulse” to commit the violent crimes, Smith said.

Excerpted from TribStar.com.