I'm just coming to this thread late. I feel pulled in multiple directions. There is no doubt that her attempted drowning of five of her children that killed two of them, is heinous, almost unspeakable, but it's hard to say whether or not she was insane. Not one of us can know for certain.

I certainly believe that one could have one or two serious delusional thoughts, as a result of the psychosis, and still be functional. It's all a matter of belief... if Andrea truly believed that she was saving her children from Satan then she was insane. Think for a moment though. If you lived in a world where is was likely some monster would take and corrupt your children, might it not be better to kill them? That could have been the world she lived in. The fact that it bears little resemblance to the "real" world is evidence of her insanity.

I also wanted to bring up the matter of the insanity plea. Most of you talk about it being a free pass for murderers and other monsters. Although I am sure a few sane people can pull it off, I think very few. Overall it's not frequently used, though when it is used in very serious crimes it does make the news. I remember a guest lecture I attended a few years ago in my Criminology course given by a psychiatrist that worked in the forensic unit at Alberta hospital. That's where those who successfully use the insanity plea land.

The insanity plea is not used frequently, at least in Canada, only 1 in 100 cases. It is successfully used in only 1 in 100 of those cases. Most of the time the prosecutor and the defence agree on the plea. Those that end up in custody as a result of the plea spend on average 4 years in the hospital... but that's an average. Many of the people using the plea have done so for much less serious crimes, perhaps property crimes. Likely someone there for murder would spend a lot more time in hospital than four years.

After the length of time in hospital they spend more time under strict release conditions in the community, sort of like a parole I guess, and like a parolee they can be forced to reenter the hospital if they violate conditions, but unlike the parolee they can be rehospitalized for any reason the treatment committee deems necessary. Just a little food for thought.