Husband shot neighbour who he believed had 'telepathically raped' his wife

Michael Selleneit – who suffered a brain injury in a car crash as a teenager – shot and wounded Tony Pierce as he was working in his garden last year, reports the Daily Mail.

The 54-year-old said he was acting in self-defence, claiming the neighbour had threatened him and raped his wife – both telepathically – many times.

He told a court that using the power of telepathy his neighbour had also told him: "We're having a sex party tonight. There will be cocaine. If you don't come, I'll kill you.'"

Defence attorney Julie George said Selleneit has had delusions since the late 1990s.

"Those are about as bizarre as I think a delusion can get," she said.

"It's locking him into a belief system that makes it impossible for him to work with me," arguing that Selleneit should be sent to the Utah State Hospital, a facility for those with mental illness.

Doctors have said Selleneit, who is charged with attempted murder and illegally possessing a firearm, is "mentally ill and very likely will be the rest of his life".

Selleneit's wife has been charged with illegally buying the weapon for her husband, and then urging him to shoot the victim.

She has also spent time in Utah State Hospital.

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