The last time Deidre "Dee" Folpp was seen alive, she told a neighbour she had someone staying with her who was "crazy" and would "argue with nobody".
The woman, Jo-Ann Graham, had been living under the Denman Bridge before Ms Folpp invited her to move into her unit in Sydney Street, Muswellbrook in October, 2023.
"This was a very kind gesture," Justice Julia Lonergan said in Newcastle Supreme Court on Wednesday.
"No doubt Ms Folpp could never have foreseen the terrible events that followed."
Because within days, possibly even hours, Ms Folpp would be dead.
At some point between October 28, when Ms Folpp was last seen, and October 30, when her body was discovered under a blanket in her bedroom, Graham killed the 60-year-old by stabbing her multiple times in the head and neck.
As Ms Folpp's sister said in her victim impact statement, her "good deed" led to her experiencing a "slow and horrifying" death.
Graham was charged with murder, but pleaded not guilty and a brief judge-alone trial this week focused solely on whether she was living with schizophrenia at the time of the stabbing.
Justice Lonergan on Monday delivered a special verdict of act proven but not criminally responsible after the court heard there was no dispute between the expert forensic psychiatrists that Graham had available to her a defence of mental health impairment.
But on Wednesday, she published a detailed judgment, outlining Graham's mental health diagnoses, her erratic and delusional behaviour and the numerous times she was spoken to, detained or assessed by police and paramedics in the days surrounding Ms Folpp's death.
Justice Lonergan outlined that, by late October, Graham's behaviour had become increasingly bizarre and disconnected from reality.
She was paranoid and delusional, telling people she was being followed or watched and that devices had been implanted in her body.
She was also hearing and seeing things that were not there, talking to herself and making increasingly disjointed and nonsensical statements.
Police and paramedics were called to a series of incidents involving Graham, who was variously described as agitated, erratic, incoherent and difficult to understand.
Graham came to the attention of police on October 27, the day before Ms Folpp was last seen, when officers were called to a medical centre in Muswellbrook after reports of an assault.
Graham wouldn't move out of the way of a car and told police officers, "please, she's got my son in there".
A witness said Graham had been walking up the road yelling at people before becoming fixated on her vehicle and trying to force her way inside.
Graham accused police of "shapeshifting" and paramedics were called to conduct a mental health assessment.
She appeared calmer and more coherent when assessed and paramedics deemed she was not to be detained.
They left the scene and Graham eventually walked off.
But less than two hours later, police were called to an op shop after reports of a woman behaving erratically.
Graham was told she was being detained for her safety and reacted aggressively, yelling and screaming and resisting arrest.
Graham was taken to Muswellbrook police station where she was again assessed and paramedics again determined she could not be taken to a mental health facility.
Graham was released.
On October 29, one of Ms Folpp's neighbours heard screaming coming from her house and then an agitated Graham bashed on his back door.
The next day, Graham returned, screamed at the neighbour and forced her way inside.
The neighbour called police and Graham continued yelling and screaming from Ms Folpp's house for hours until police arrived.
When they did, officers heard a shriek come from inside Ms Folpp's unit but Graham would not open the door.
Police made attempts to contact Ms Folpp on her mobile phone, but they went unanswered.
The officers then left.
Over the rest of the afternoon, numerous people witnessed Graham behaving erratically around Muswellbrook and called triple-zero.
At 7.45pm on October 30, police spoke to Graham at the Muswellbrook Workers Club and again requested that paramedics attend and conduct a mental health assessment.
Police waited for more than 40 minutes for an ambulance, but one did not arrive.
Meanwhile, friends of Ms Folpp had become concerned for her welfare and went into her house, discovering her body under a blanket in her bedroom.
Police were called and officers left Graham at the club and went back to the house.
They saw her body and the injuries and declared a crime scene before returning to the club and arresting Graham.
She was taken to a police station and again paramedics were called to perform a mental health assessment.
The paramedics did not believe there were grounds to schedule her and she remained in police custody.
However, early the next morning, Graham was taken to Muswellbrook Hospital to undergo a mental health assessment by a doctor.
She was then transported to the Calvary Mater Hospital where she was scheduled and admitted to the secure Psychiatric Emergency Care Unit until she was discharged into police custody on November 8.
The psychiatric experts opined that, by the time she killed Ms Folpp, Graham's thinking was severely disordered and she was likely suffering from psychosis.
Justice Lonergan found that Graham was suffering from schizophrenia at the time of the stabbing and that, because of her mental health impairment, she did not know that what she was doing was wrong.
She entered a special verdict of act proven but not criminally responsible and ordered Graham be detained until the Mental Health Review Tribunal finds she no longer poses a threat to the community.
Lifeline: 13 11 14, lifeline.org.au
Headspace: 1800 650 890, headspace.org.au
Beyond Blue: 1300 224 635, beyondblue.org.au
SANE Support line and Forums: 1800 187 263, saneforums.org
