A Carmel man has been found guilty, but mentally ill, of murdering his father after confining his mother for nine hours in February 2022.
A Hamilton County jury convicted Christopher Claerbout, 42, on April 14 on eight counts, which include murder, criminal confinement and theft. The verdict of “guilty but mentally ill” will require Claerbout to receive treatment for his mental illness while incarcerated, but it does not alter sentencing procedures or lengths. Sentencing is set for June 1 in Hamilton County Superior Court 2.
Claerbout’s defense team sought to prove that he was not guilty by reason of insanity. An attorney for Claerbout did not respond to a request for comment on the verdict or whether it will be appealed.
Claerbout fatally stabbed his father in the driveway of his parents’ Carmel home after his father arrived home from work to find his wife handcuffed and bound with an extension cord. During the trial, Claerbout testified that he went to his parents’ home that morning to arrest his mother for war crimes and begin transporting her to Guantanamo Bay.
He also told the jury that at the time of the incident he believed he was Donald Trump and that his parents were Bill and Hillary Clinton. Since starting medication to treat his mental illness, he said he no longer believes that to be the case.
