It was possible that a businessman accused of killing his ex-wife suffered temporary amnesia when he allegedly stabbed her repeatedly.
It is alleged that the Sandton man acted after discovering a computer disk containing photographs of his wife having sex with another man.
Psychiatrist Dr Merryl Vorster agreed with Gordon Alexander's version that he had suffered temporary amnesia when he allegedly stabbed his former wife 13 times and could not remember what had happened.
This was also precipitated by the fact that 46-year-old Alexander was in "a state of emotional tension" when he allegedly committed the offence on the evening of August 26 2002.
Vorster was on Wednesday called by the defence in the Johannesburg High Court trial of Alexander, who is charged with murdering his ex-wife Lisl Strauch, 36, at her Bryanston townhouse complex.
Vorster said there were similar incidents where people did not recall what they had done. "It is called psychogenic amnesia. It is found in a state of emotional tension. I am not suggesting it excuses the behaviour, but it explains the reason he does not remember. It has been called semi-autism," she told the court.
Vorster further said the state of semi-autism lasted for only a few minutes, which explained why Alexander had handed himself over to the police after he realised "he had acted in a violent manner".
The state and defence were expected to start closing arguments on Thursday.