Husband ‘shot his neighbour because he believed he’d telepathically raped his wife’

Michael Selleneit is accused of shooting and wounding Tony Pierce as he worked in his garden in Utah, U.S.



Claimed Mr Pierce had had 'sex parties' with his wife and used crack cocaine to control her mind



'Mentally ill' 54-year-old has said rock guitarist Eddie Van Halen visits him 'in his mind'

Charged with attempted murder and illegally possessing a firearm

A man shot his neighbour because he believed the 41-year-old had 'telepathically raped' his wife, a court heard.

'Delusional' Michael Selleneit - who has claimed rock guitarist Eddie Van Halen visits him 'in his mind' - is accused of shooting and wounding Tony Pierce as he was working in his garden in Centerville, Utah, U.S.

The 54-year-old has said he was acting in self-defence when he shot Mr Pierce, claiming the neighbour had threatened him 'telepathically' and had 'telepathically raped' his wife many times, the court heard.

Accused: Michael Selleneit is alleged to have shot his neighbour because he believed the 41-year-old had 'telepathically raped' his wife

Selleneit is charged with attempted murder and illegally possessing a firearm following the incident in October 2011.



Defence attorney Julie George said Selleneit - who suffered a brain injury in a car crash as a teenager - has had delusions about being threatened with violence and about his wife being raped since the late 1990s.

She said Selleneit believes his neighbour has 'sex parties' with his wife while he is in the next room, and that 'Eddie Van Halen comes into his mind and helps him occasionally'.

'Those are about as bizarre as I think a delusion can get,' said the attorney, who argued that Selleneit should be sent to the Utah State Hospital.

'It's locking him into a belief system that makes it impossible for him to work with me,' she added.

Doctors have said Selleneit is 'mentally ill and very likely will be the rest of his life', court documents state.

According to previous testimony Selleneit believed Mr Pierce was having sex parties with his wife Melony Toone Selleneit and using crack cocaine to control her mind.

The 54-year-old claimed his neighbour telepathically told him: 'We're having a sex party tonight. There will be cocaine. If you don't come, I'll kill you.'



Selleneit's wife, also 54, is charged with illegally buying the weapon for her husband, and then urging him to shoot the victim.

