48 Hours: Season 19, Episode 6

19 - 6: Scientology: A Question of Faith

Why would a 28-year-old man, described as sweet, kind and gentle, take a knife to his mother one morning in 2003 and stab her over 70 times? Jeremy Perkins, who had been diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, came to believe that his mother, Elli, was evil and out to get him. Experts say the brutal murder might never have occurred had he received proper treatment to control his psychotic delusions. But Jeremy's parents were devout Scientologists -- a religion that strongly opposes psychiatric treatment. Did Elli Perkins' faith contribute to her death?