Anders Breivik Deemed Insane in Norway Massacre Case

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Handout/Reuters

Confessed Norwegian mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik has been deemed officially insane, according to court-appointed psychiatrists, and may avoid jail.

“The conclusion is that he is insane,” prosecutor Svein Holden told a news conference in Oslo this morning. “He lives in his own delusional universe and his thoughts and acts are governed by this universe.”

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A Norwegian court must still uphold the psychiatrists’ evaluation, but if they do, the 32-year-old far-right extremist will be committed to a psychiatric institution for treatment until he is deemed healthy.

Holden said Breivik suffers from paranoid schizophrenia and was psychotic when he perpetrated his attacks. Breivik’s bombing and shooting spree in July took the lives of 77 people, including dozens of teenagers at a Labour Party youth camp on Utoya island.