A man who is his own lawyer has a fool for a client.

It’s a well known saying that this week may have seen its value played out in a court room in Tampa, Florida in the United States.

Ronnie Oneal III, who has been accused of the double-murder of his girlfriend and disabled daughter, has chosen to represent himself in his death penalty trial. The decision set the stage for viral videos of his wild opening statement and disturbing cross-examination of his own son, who was stabbed and then badly burnt when his dad allegedly set fire to the home after the killings.

In his opening statement on Monday, Oneal shouted at jurors that he did not attack his girlfriend and daughter, claiming that the evidence would reveal “some of the most vicious, lying, fabricating, fictitious government you ever seen”.

Oneal declared at one point that, though it looked like he was alone, “I am backed by a mighty God”.

He said what really happened that fateful day in March 2018 was that his girlfriend, Kenyatta Barron, attacked their two children and that he killed her in self-defense.

Prosecutors, however, acccuse Oneal of wounding Barron with a shotgun, then beating her to death. Harmon also said Oneal used a hatchet to kill his nine-year-old daughter — who had cerebral palsy and could not speak — and wounded his eight-year-old son with a knife.

His son has backed up the prosecution’s case while experts have argued that Oneal appears to have mental issues that will likely play into whether he gets the death penalty if convicted.

While we wait to see the outcome of what is looking to be a bizarre trial with an unusual star, it is a reminder of the 1993 Long Island Rail Road shooting and the trial that followed where the accused, Jamaica-born Colin Ferguson decided to represent himself as well.

A court-appointed psychologist and psychiatrist concluded that Ferguson was suffering from paranoid personality disorder but was competent to stand trial.

In the Long Island Rail Road shooting, Ferguson was accused of gunning down several commuters, killing six and injuring 19.

Ferguson, during his trial, appeared lucid but made bizarre, off-the-wall statements such as his reasoning behind why a grand jury slapped him with a 93-count indictment.

“There were 93 counts to that indictment. Ninety three counts only because it matches the year 1993. Had it been 1925, it would have been 25 counts,” Ferguson said in his opening statement.

Ferguson claimed he was asleep on the train when someone took his firearm from his bag and shot the commuters, but passengers identified him as the man who looked them dead in the eye as he shot them.

Ferguson would in February 1995 be convicted and received 315 years and eight months to life, meaning his current earliest possible parole date is August 6, 2309.