Shane James trial: Jury hears final testimony, starts deliberating

AUSTIN, Texas - Two experts have different opinions on whether Shane James was sane or insane when he killed his parents and four others in 2023. 

The trial is not about whether he committed the crimes. It's about whether he knew what he was doing was wrong. 

Testimony on James' mental capacity

What they're saying:

Last week, the jury heard from a psychologist the defense called. She believes James did not know the wrongfulness of his crimes. 

On Monday, the state called a psychiatrist who came to a different conclusion.

Dr. Maureen Burrows, a forensic psychiatrist, says she agrees with the defense's psychologist that James has schizophrenia, but she doesn't believe he was insane. 

"My opinion was that when he committed the offenses on December 5 that even though he had schizophrenia, knew right from wrong and was sane," Burrows said during testimony.

She explained that the legal statute for insanity in Texas says at the time of the offense, because of mental illness, the defendant didn't know their conduct was wrong. Having severe mental illness doesn't necessarily equal insanity. 

James, at the defendant's table, seemed interested when the jury was shown the legal definition of insanity on the monitors.

Dr. Burrows says despite James having delusions of laser masters, when she asked him why he did things, he had conscious reasoning for his crimes. 

For example, after killing his parents, he waited to see police at the neighborhood entrance. Then he went back to his parents' house and moved his father's body to try to prevent his brother from seeing it. Then he took money from his mother's purse and filled the dog bowls with water.

"He's evading detection by police, he knows he's done some sort of crime, that would have police come to the scene, whether it's his parents or not, he knows he has killed somebody and that is wrong," Burrows said.

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She explained switching cars throughout the day to avoid detection by police, thinking Sabrina Rahman was going to call the police, covering Katherine Short's blood with a shirt, were all signs that he knew the consequences of his actions.

In the interview room at Austin Police headquarters, he didn't have any bizarre behavior and gave clear answers until getting defensive when asked about his parents.

"When I see somebody either ask for an attorney or end a conversation when it starts veering into actual crime, it is concerning to me that they are processing that talking about this could be used against them and that they knew it was wrong. An insane person would be like, 'oh my God, the laser masters did this I'm so glad you picked me up,'" Burrows said.

What's next:

The jury heard closing arguments in the afternoon. They started deliberating around 5 p.m.