In an Edmonton courtroom Wednesday, Justice Wayne Renke said he had found Christine Longridge not criminally responsible for killing her daughter Rachael in December, 2016.

Justice Renke was emotional when he delivered his verdict, saying he had found while Longridge had intended to kill her daughter, her mental disorder kept her from understanding what she was doing was morally wrong.

On February 21, Longridge pleaded not guilty to charges of second degree murder and possession of an offensive weapon. An autopsy found Rachael had been nearly decapitated when she was found on December 23, 2016.

An agreed statement of facts outlined Longridge’s long history of mental illness, she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 1999 after her son Michael was born. She had been hospitalized four times, the last time in late November, 2016, weeks before Rachael’s death.

Defence lawyer Dino Bottos said Longridge killed her daughter to fulfill what he called a “messiah mission.”

“In order to save her son Michael, who she thought was the messiah; she was compelled to kill Rachael and then herself,” Bottos said on Wednesday, Feb. 21.

Both the Crown and defence asked for a not criminally responsible verdict.

“There’s still a lifetime of grieving and loss and torment, so we’re not expecting much relief anytime soon, this was simply the best result of a terrible tragedy,” Bottos said outside of court after the verdict was handed down.

Longridge will not see criminal penalties; she remains at Alberta Hospital, where she’ll appear before the review board within 45 days.

“The review board will have a hearing, a disposition hearing as such, and what happens during that time is that they will order an assessment,” Crown Prosecutor Ahluwalia Sony said Wednesday.

Bottos said it’s believed she’ll likely be ordered to stay at Alberta Hospital for 12 months, and her progress will be reviewed every 12 months after that.

“Over the course of what I’m going to imagine are several years of recovery, hopefully recovery, that each year they will review her case, and determine whether incremental steps of privileges might be given to her,” Bottos said.

With files from Shanelle Kaul