George Harrison Stabbing Case Begins

In Oxford, England today, members of the jury heard their first accounts of the night of December 30, 1999. It was late on this evening when former Beatle George Harrison and his wife Olivia were attacked by Michael Abram, a knife-wielding and mentally disturbed intruder who was attempting to kill the former pop icon. George’s description of the incident, in which he suffered a punctured lung, was troubling. Harrison described in detail how "he thought he was going to die as the man pushed a knife into his chest and he felt blood rising toward his mouth." Although Harrison’s statements were read to the jury, his wife Olivia appeared in person to recount the event.

"There was blood on the walls, blood on my hands and I realized that we were going to be murdered and this man was succeeding in murdering us and there was absolutely nobody else there to help," she said. The Harrisons were awakened in the middle of the night by the sound of a downstairs window being smashed and George quickly ran down to investigate. It was at this point that he spotted the raving Abram, who was hysterically screaming and rushing toward Harrison. In an attempt to confuse and disorient his attacker, Harrison began yelling, "Hare Krishna! Hare Krishna!" This did not have the desired effect, as Abram continued to attack, eventually wounding both George and Olivia before police arrived and arrested the crazed intruder.

Psychiatric evaluations suggest that Abram was convinced that he was possessed by Harrison and that he was sent on a mission from God to kill Harrison. Abram has pleaded innocent by reason of insanity to two counts of attempted murder.