Medical student drives from Queensland to Perth to stab elderly dad

{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","dateModified":"2026-04-28T05:39:34Z","datePublished":"2026-04-28T05:39:34Z","description":"David Moussa called police outside his father’s Clarkson home and calmly told them he had just stabbed his dad 50 times in the heart.","headline":"Medical student drives from Queensland to Perth to stab elderly dad","keywords":"Courts, Courts, Law, Crime, Crime, Police, WA courts, Department of Justice, Clarkson, Perth, Just in WA","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rebecca Peppiatt","jobTitle":"Journalist","url":"/by/rebecca-peppiatt-p536kg"}],"mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https://www.watoday.com.au/national/western-australia/medical-student-drives-from-queensland-to-perth-to-stab-elderly-dad-20260428-p5zrqc.html","@type":"WebPage"},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","height":"1322.6666666666665","url":"https://static.ffx.io/images/$zoom_0.886566368217623%2C$multiply_0.7025%2C$ratio_1.777778%2C$width_1059%2C$x_0%2C$y_6/t_crop_custom/q_86%2Cf_auto/88b7c338cf9007582d2a3241c1779527714bf044","width":"744"},"isAccessibleForFree":false,"hasPart":[{"@type":"WebPageElement","isAccessibleForFree":false,"cssSelector":".paywall"}],"publisher":{"@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","name":"The Sydney Morning Herald","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","height":"628","url":"https://www.smh.com.au/metro-assets/assets/static/smh.png","width":"1200"},"url":"https://www.smh.com.au"},"isPartOf":{"@type":["CreativeWork","Product"],"name":"The Sydney Morning Herald","productID":"smh.com.au:webonly"}}{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","item":{"@id":"https://www.smh.com.au/national","name":"National"},"position":1},{"@type":"ListItem","item":{"@id":"https://www.smh.com.au/national/western-australia","name":"WA"},"position":2},{"@type":"ListItem","item":{"@id":"https://www.smh.com.au/topic/perth-courts-60h","name":"Courts"},"position":3}]}AdvertisementNationalWACourtsMedical student drives from Queensland to Perth to stab elderly dadRebecca PeppiattApril 28, 2026 — 3:39pmSaveYou have reached your maximum number of saved items.Remove items from your saved list to add more.ShareAAADavid Moussa was studying to be a doctor when in January last year he felt compelled to drive from Queensland to Perth to stab his father to death.The 32-year-old believed his dad had drugged, neglected and sexually abused him as a child and that he had been “told” to kill the 72-year-old by medical researchers, the Supreme Court of WA heard on Tuesday.David Moussa was arrested after the Clarkson incident in February last year.9 News PerthMoussa has gone on trial this week after pleading not guilty to the killing by reason of unsound mind. He entered the same plea in relation to a grievous bodily harm charge after he stabbed his step-mother during the same incident outside their Clarkson property on February 4 and 5 2025.On Tuesday, the court heard how Moussa, who has a master’s degree in science from UWA, was living and studying in Queensland completing the first year of a medical degree when his physical and mental health began to decline.AdvertisementHe was falling behind at university and sought help from his GP and a psychiatrist who just weeks before killing his father wrote that Moussa was suffering from psychotic symptoms from dexamphetamine use.He was also struggling with the end of a relationship, a failed rent inspection and had lost and then appealed his place at medical school…

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