An Abbotsford man who shot his wife three times and then burned her body was declared not criminally responsible in Chilliwack Supreme Court on Friday.

The man, who cannot be named due to a publication ban to protect the couple's two children, killed his 41-year-old wife on Remembrance Day 2009.

Justice Brian Joyce determined the man was not criminally responsible on account of a mental disorder, and was incapable of determining that his actions were morally wrong.

"He had the delusional belief his wife was possessed by the devil or the Antichrist. He did not believe the form on the bed was his wife," said Joyce.

"No other reason or motive from the evidence arises for why [this man] would take the life of his wife whom he clearly loved," said Joyce.

Court heard the man, who had no previous history of mental disorders, had been increasingly paranoid, delusional and depressed in the two months leading up to the murder.

He told family, friends and even reported to police on two occasions that the Hells Angels were after him and his family.

Police investigated his claims, but nothing could be found to support the allegations. At one point, he also drove his truck to Prince George and abandoned it there in an effort to lure the Hells Angels away from his family.

The man's wife accompanied him to their family doctor on Oct. 19, 2009. The doctor found the husband paranoid and "frantic with anxiety," and prescribed sleeping pills and anti-anxiety medication.

In a follow-up visit in early November, the doctor noted the medication had provided some measure of relief, and no further visits were scheduled.

In the early morning of Nov. 11, 2009 the man used a ladder to retrieve a rifle from the attic of the family home and placed it on a counter in the kitchen.

His 10-year-old son was in the living room while his wife and 15-year-old stepdaughter were in their respective bedrooms at the time.

When the boy saw the shotgun, he asked his dad if he was going hunting. The father said yes.

He then went into the bedroom, talking briefly with his wife before coming out again and sitting down in silence. Asked by his son what he was doing, he replied, "Thinking."

He suddenly got up, picked up the gun, walked to the bedroom, and fired the gun from the doorway.

The stepdaughter emerged from her bedroom after hearing the noise to see her brother with his hands clapped to his ears.

The man fired a second shot and both kids ran to their rooms.

The daughter originally thought her stepfather was shooting towards the outside of the house because of his previous comments about people "being after them."

She texted two friends on her cell that her stepfather was firing a gun.

Later the father retrieved the kids from their room and told them to get dressed and get into the car.

Once in the vehicle, the children heard a third shot ring out from inside the house.

After the father emerged and began driving away, the son noticed smoke or dust coming from the house. He then asked what was going on and asked about his stepmom. His dad told him she was sleeping. The father drove his son to his mother's house before dropping his stepdaughter off at her grandmother's.

He eventually drove to St. Joseph's Catholic Church at 206 Avenue and Fraser Highway in Langley where he confessed to a priest and later surrendered himself to police.

When police entered the house, they found the victim on the bed badly burned.

The investigation and autopsy revealed the wife died from gunshot wounds - one to her head and two others to her torso.

The fire was started with an accelerant in a metal can that had been placed next to the victim's body.

Convulsive sobs were heard from members of the victim's family as the judge read out the details of the women's injuries. The husband, hanging his head in the prisoner's box, also wept openly.

Joyce ordered the man be immediately returned to the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in Coquitlam where he's been remanded since his arrest.