NASHUA – So what if Christopher Gribble thought he might be an Angel of Death.

Yes, he suffered from depression and showed evidence of a personality disorder that included an overblown sense of his own abilities and potential.

And he talked about helping to kill a sleeping mother and stabbing her then 11-year-old daughter, like he was “describing a football game.”

But none of that qualifies as a legitimate insanity defense for his role in the murder of Kimberly Cates, according to expert testimony Monday.

Dr. Albert Drukteinis, a Manchester-based forensic psychiatrist, said he found evidence of pervasive developmental disorder, depression and personality disorder traits after interviewing Gribble for more than seven hours last month, and reviewing more than 13,000 pages of investigation reports, witness interviews and medical records.

“Mr. Gribble does have some mental disorders, but they did not rise to the level of being serious mental disorders that … kept him from understanding what he and the others were doing,” Drukteinis said. “He knew that his actions were criminal. His disorders didn’t make him do these things. He chose to do them.”

Drukteinis said he interviewed Gribble on Feb. 3 and determined that the fact that he never killed his parents despite long harboring homicidal urges toward his mother in particular was one indication he didn’t have a mental disease that caused an “uncontrollable reason for violence or rage.”

“From his point of view, as with many people with socicopathic disorders, they believe they can do anything they want, and it’s right even though they know it’s not right,” Drukteinis said. “Given how much anger he has inside, and hate, it’s surprising there weren’t even more fights.”

Gribble told Drukteinis, as he testified to last week, that his mother was abusive and controlling, and that he learned to lie and manipulate people because his parents controlled him.

“He did, at some point, begin to feel a great deal of hate toward his parents, particularly his mother,” Drukteinis said. “You got the sense that he was troubled and lonely a lot of the time and didn’t feel like he fit in very well.”

He was proud of his ability to manipulate, Drukteinis said, and boasted that, should he want to, he could convince the doctor he hadn’t participated in the Mont Vernon murder.

Gribble has pervasive developmental disorder, which is on the low end of the Autism spectrum, Drukteinis said, and likely accounts for what others have testified is his inability or difficulty in picking up on social cues and reading how others react to his words and behavior.

The social awkwardness may have contributed to the mild depression he experienced for a number of years.

Drukteinis also found evidence of an emerging personality disorder and noticed sociopathic, grandiose and obsessive thoughts, he said.

None of that fits Drukteinis’ definition of mental illness that would qualify for an insanity defense.

Drukteinis said he looks for evidence a person was psychotic – unable to perceive reality – when diagnosing mental illnesses as they apply to criminal proceedings. He found no such delusion or psychotic break in Gribble, he said.

“Of course it’s abnormal. Murder is abnormal in general,” he said. “This is very abnormal and shocking, but that doesn’t create a mental illness for psychiatric purposes.”

Gribble’s diminished empathy for other people is a “framework” for his actions rather than a reason for them, Drukteinis said.

When he was cross-examined by defense attorney Donna Brown, Drukteinis agreed it’s up to the jury to determine what qualifies as a mental disease or defect.

He said that a number of behaviors Gribble has displayed point to his grandiose thoughts, including thinking he’s smarter than other people, thinking he’s an Angel of God and has a special role in the second coming of Christ and making veiled threats to other inmates at the Valley Street jail in Manchester.

He also said structure is used as a treatment strategy for people with personality disorders and that Gribble had lost good deal of structure in his life before the murders, including changing church parishes, ending his involvement in Boy Scouts and leaving home.

Drukteinis said Gribble doesn’t have delusional disorder, even though he asked investigators if the government would turn him into a “super marine” like they do with convicted killers in “Star Craft,” a video game.

“I think it was grandiose and a fantasy, more than a delusion,” Drukteinis said.

Drukteinis said the level of planning Gribble put into the home invasion, including gathering clothes and weapons, establishing an alibi and disposing of evidence after, don’t rule out an opinion that he was insane, but weigh against it. The fact that there were co-conspirators involved in the scheme weighs against it even more, he said.

“Generally speaking, the homicides that support an insanity defense psychiatrically, typically you don’t see them as part of a conspiracy,” Drukteinis said.

Drukteinis was testifying during the seventh day of Gribble’s insanity for the Oct. 4, 2009, Mont Vernon home invasion, during which he and Steven Spader used a machete and knife to hack 42-year-old Kimberly Cates to death and almost killed her daughter Jaimie Cates, then 11.

Drukteinis is the only mental health professional who examined Gribble after the murder to be called to testify. The defense interviewed two doctors from the Counseling Center of Nashua who saw Gribble in 2007. They found evidence of emerging anti-social disorder, they testified.

Gribble is charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to murder and burglary, and witness tampering and faces life in prison without parole.

Gribble’s lawyers have told the jury he was struggling with anti-social personality disorder and caved in 2009 after his support system – family, church and Boy Scouts – gave way and he fell in with Spader.

After Drukteinis, Milford police officer Kevin Furlong took the stand and offered jurors a glimpse of what he saw as the first person to respond to 4 Trow Road after the murder.

Furlong said he broke down the front door of the home and found Jaimie Cates on the kitchen floor.

“She was trying to yell but nothing was coming out at that time,” Furlong said.

He said he saw “numerous, numerous” lacerations on Jaimie’s body, including a badly broken jaw.

“At that point, I picked her up. I cradled her in my arms and brought her outside,” Furlong said. “She begged me to stay with her. I told her no one was going to hurt her anymore, and I went in to check the rest of the residence.”

Furlong went back in the house alone, with his gun and flashlight drawn, looking for more victims or, possibly, attackers. He found Kimberly Cates dead in her bedroom.

David Cates testified briefly, as he did during Spader’s murder trial last year. He said he no longer travels for work. He used to take about 26 trips a year for his work as a BAE Systems Engineer, he said.

David Cates was in Maryland Oct. 4, 2009, and was notified by State Police that there had been a home invasion and that he needed to return home immediately.

He identified a number of things police recovered during the investigation, including jewelry boxes, an old wallet and Jaimie’s iPod.

Cates has sat in the courtroom for all of Gribble’s insanity trial.

After him, Christy Michaud testified that she paid Gribble and Spader $130 for items it turns out they had taken from the Cates’ home. Michaud was working at the Cash for Gold kiosk at the Pheasant Lane Mall at the time.

The last witness of the day was New Hampshire State Trooper Mike Kokoski, a member of the State Police Major Crime Unit. Kokoski was in charge of collecting evidence at the Cates home.

Assistant Attorney General Lucy Carrillo had him show the jury a number of crime scene photos, including the blood-soaked bedroom, hallway and kitchen.

The defense did not cross-examine any of the final four witnesses.

By pleading not guilty by reason of insanity, Gribble forfeited his criminal trial and his lawyers must show his actions were the result of a mental disease or defect, or he will be found guilty.

If a jury agrees unanimously that Gribble’s actions were the result of a mental disease or defect, Abramson would then have to determine whether he is still dangerous.

If she decides he is dangerous, Gribble would be committed to a psychiatric unit in the State Prison and be entitled to another hearing every five years to determine whether he still presents a danger.

The jury would have to rule unanimously that Gribble is guilty for him to be sentenced to life in prison without parole.

If neither decision is unanimous, it would be a hung jury and Gribble would be retried.

The trial will continue at 9 a.m. Tuesday.

Joseph G. Cote can be reached at 594-6415 or jcote@nashuatelegraph.com.