Unable to get mental health treatment, Oregon man killed his mom [Video]

PORTLAND, Ore. — Austin Graham thought people were poisoning the water and air around him, trying to kill him.

His parents — Hunter and Teresa — watched their son’s mental illness get progressively worse from their Southwest Portland home.

Seeking help for their son, the Grahams tried local hospitals, voluntary treatment at a mental health facility, and even guardianship. Nothing could compel Austin into treatment for severe mental illness.

In November, Austin Graham confessed to murdering his mother, telling police he strangled her to death in their family home in what Hunter Graham believes was a psychotic episode.

“You shouldn’t have to commit murder to get mental health care, but that’s what our son Austin did to my beautiful wife, Teresa,” Hunter Graham told KGW.

No right door

Hunter and Teresa Graham first started noticing mental changes in …