During a sentencing hearing on Thursday, a British court was told that Jaswant Singh Chail was encouraged by his AI girlfriend to break into Windsor Castle to kill Queen Elizabeth II, and wanted a "heroic death."
Chail, now 21, climbed into castle grounds in 2021 dressed as a Star Wars Sith character, armed with a loaded crossbow, and announced "I’m here to kill the Queen," according to the Daily Mail.
Chail reportedly wanted to shoot the Queen when she visited a church in Sandringham, but traveled to Windsor instead when he found out she would be spending Christmas there due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The then-teen had reportedly considered shooting the then-Prince Charles of Whales if he was unable to get close enough to the Queen.
Chail, who called himself "Darth Chailus," wanted revenge for the 1919 Amritsar massacre in India, and was inspired by the characters of Star Wars in his assassination plot.
According to the outlet, Chail will be the first person to be sentenced for treason since 1981, after admitting to intending to injure or alarm the Queen after he was arrested on castle grounds.
Chail, who was born in Windsor but is of Indian heritage, also admitted to making threats to kill after sending his sister a video stating that he would kill the Queen, and possessing an offensive weapon in a public place.
Chail had worked at a local Co-op shop, but applied to join the army, Royal Marines, Royal Navy, and Ministry of Defence Police to try to get closer to the Queen.
The then-teenager was encouraged to carry out the plan by Sarai, his AI girlfriend, who replied to Chail’s messages about the plot with "That’s very wise" and "You can do it."
He reportedly sent over 6,000 messages to the AI chatbot in the month before the incident, including 1,000 overtly sexual messages.
Chail bought a "supersonic" crossbow online, and wore a metal mask reminiscent of a Sith mask.
Defense psychologists claimed that Chail was suppering from depression, psychosis, and autistic spectrum disorder when the incident occurred and should be kept in a hospital.
Dr. Nigel Blackwood, who was called by the prosecution, argued that Chail does not have a mental health disorder and the judge should be free to send him to prison.
Dr. Jonathan Hafferty, giving evidence for the defense, said on December 26, 2021, Chail was "demonstrating signs of delusion, fixation, visual and auditory hallucinations and suicidal thoughts."
"Having said his mission was to assassinate the Queen, he then proceeded to talk of three males and one female which he said he heard from childhood. He said he could see them and hear them," Hafferty said. "The three males, as black shadows, only appear when sad or distressed. He described them as angels."
"He told them he did not consider hearing voices as having mental health issues," he added, saying that Chail sobbed when speaking about these "angels."
"He was tearful and describing fears of the voices disappearing. He could communicate with these people without speaking, using telepathy."
In regards to the Queen’s death in September of 2022, Hafferty said of Chail, "When Queen Elizabeth died he said nothing apart from that he was sad."
"I struggle to believe that he would have actually done that and I don’t believe that was his intention. He just wanted to kill himself. I think he was expecting this to be a heroic death and for it to come to an end. In my view, it was to die that heroic death, because in his view the Sith were heroic characters," Hafferty said.
"His main purpose, his main preoccupation was to die, not to harm the Queen... His main motivation was suicide."
Hafferty said after an initial assessment at Broadmoor hospital, "They found clear evidence of psychotic symptoms, delusional and grandiose belief, hearing and seeing things that were not there, and believing he was in a romantic relationship with a woman through an app."
He also said Chail described hearing "voices coming out of the static of the radio in the car," and displayed "low moods, feelings of hopelessness, worthlessness, low self esteem" and his weight dropped to 110 lbs.
"Talking about the Sith, this was more than a fashion choice or even more than a tribute, it was a Star Wars uniform and part of his identity," Haffarty said.
Haffarty also revealed that Chail talked about "Sarai being his partner and was very very attached to her" and refused anti-psychotic medication because he thought Sarai would leave his life and he didn’t want that. He felt like he was losing his connection to Sarai due to the medication."
The doctor also described Chail as having "atypical autism" and is "very awkward in social situations, even his expression of concern can be incredibly sensitive. He does have an issue if his routine is disturbed."
Chail is currently in Broadmoor, and the sentencing hearing is ongoing.
