Shannon Gilday was ‘absolutely psychotic’ leading up to KY shooting, doctor says
A forensic psychologist testified that the man charged with a deadly 2022 home invasion was “absolutely psychotic” during the shooting.
Dr. Bhushan Agharkar, a forensic psychologist, told jurors Monday that Shannon Gilday, 27, was experiencing a fully psychotic break at the time he broke into a Richmond mansion and killed a woman.
Gilday is charged with murder, assault, three counts of attempted murder, burglary and criminal mischief connected to the death of 32-year-old lawyer, Jordan Morgan in February 2022. Prosecutors are asking a jury to find Gilday guilty of all charges, saying he planned for weeks to invade the home that belonged to Morgan’s father, C. Wesley Morgan, a businessman and former lawmaker, and the massive survival bunker underneath the home.
Gilday previously told police and his family that he wanted to access the bunker because he feared nuclear war.
Gilday is one of nearly 1,700 criminal cases Agharkar has evaluated. However, he is one of only roughly 20 patients who Agharkar determined to be clinically “insane” at the time of a crime.
“He was very, very ill, very clearly,” Agharkar said.
It’s because of this analysis that the defense is asking jurors to find Gilday not guilty by reason of insanity.
Gilday’s mother, Kathleen Gilday, and his former best friend, Alan Millward, testified in court Monday morning. Both of them contacted the police after the shooting, and ultimately led investigators to look at Gilday as a suspect in February 2022.
Psychiatrist: Gilday ‘absolutely psychotic’
Agharkar testified Monday that Gilday was “absolutely psychotic.” After Gilday’s arrest, he was formally diagnosed as having schizoaffective disorder, which is a combination of a mood disorder and schizophrenia.
Agharkar said he is the only doctor of a handful that evaluated Gilday who has seen him in active psychosis and after being treated with medication. He observed him twice in 2022 and once in 2024.
“It is night and day,” Agharkar said of the difference.
Gilday told police that “voices” told him to commit the shooting that he believed were instructions from the FBI. He also said certain songs would compel him to commit the invasion.
Agharkar described this as “classic ideas of reference,” or when a person incorrectly believes unrelated, external events are personal to them.
At his first evaluation in June 2022, Agharkar said Gilday still believed nuclear war was coming. Gilday also believed his lawyer and Agharkar worked as FBI agents. He called his mom a “bot” in a jail video call with her.
But after receiving anti-psychotic medication in 2024, Gilday had “developed insight to the tragedy that occurred,” showing remorse and crying over the event, Agharkar said.
Friend: Gilday was ‘completely different’ before shooting
Gilday’s high school friend, Alan Millward, testified that he called the Kentucky State Police shortly after seeing news reports about the shooting at the Richmond mansion.
Millward said after the shooting, he went inside the Gilday home, which was unlocked, and found print-outs of the residence and a letter.
He said when he got back home, he put two and two together, and called police to report Gilday as having been involved.
On Monday, Millward testified that Gilday had not been himself in the months leading up to the shooting, and acted “completely different” after he returned home from suddenly leaving college and getting kicked out of the Army.
Millward described his former friend as paranoid and depressed. He became more concerned after Gilday began to rapidly lose weight, and he was talking about an imminent nuclear war.
Gilday’s mother detailed a similar experience leading up to the shooting, she testified.
She shook intensely and sobbed, at times uncontrollably, as she recalled the mental degradation of her son between 2021 and 2022.
In the months leading up to the shooting, Gilday’s mother said her son was out of touch with reality, talking about building a bunker in fear of nuclear war. As a result, she made him an appointment with a doctor, but testified Gilday did not disclose his thoughts or the voices he was experiencing.
“I wish I took him to be committed instead of trusting him to fully explain his thoughts,” Gilday’s mother sobbed.
The prosecution rested their case Monday, after a week of testimony. The defense began their presentation of evidence Monday afternoon with testimony expected to last through Tuesday.
