Re Jeffrey Cazabon, 2025 CanLII 120430

Re: Jeffrey Cazabon

ORB File No: 7872

Hearing held on: Friday, September 26, 2025

Place of hearing: Southwest Centre for Forensic Mental Health Care 401 Sunset Drive, St. Thomas

Pursuant to: Section 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code

Before: Alternate Chairperson: Mr. G. Beasley Members: Dr. T. Verny Dr. R. Chandrasena Ms. K. Tomaszewski Ms. M. McKinnon

Parties Appearing: Accused: Jeffrey Cazabon Counsel: Ms. L.M. Carnelos

The person in charge of hospital: Counsel: Ms. J. Zamprogna

Attorney General of Ontario: Counsel: Mr. D. Rows

REASONS FOR DISPOSITION

(Dated November 20, 2025)

Introduction

1. On April 9, 2021, the accused Jeffrey Cazabon, was found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder on a charge of aggravated assault, contrary to the Criminal Code of Canada. By reason of a Disposition of the Ontario Review Board (“ORB”) dated June 13, 2024, Mr. Cazabon was ordered to be detained at the Southwest Centre for Forensic Mental Health Care (“Southwest Centre”), St. Joseph's Health Care London. The Disposition provided a wide range of privileges including residing in the communities of Elgin and Middlesex County in a supervised accommodation approved by the person in charge.

2. On September 26, 2025, the ORB convened a hearing at the Southwest Centre for the purpose of the annual review of Mr. Cazabon's Disposition pursuant to s. 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code. Mr. Cazabon was in attendance and represented by counsel, Ms. Carnelos. Ms. Zamprogna appeared as counsel for the hospital and Mr. Rows, as counsel for the Attorney General of Ontario.

Index Offence

3. The circumstances of the index offence are taken from the Hospital Report, as follows:

“On August 5, 2020, the victim Cindy Kiefer called 911 to report that her schizophrenic adult son, Jeffrey CAZABON had just stabbed her multiple times. She ran to the nearest neighbour and was waiting for police and ambulance to attend. The weapon, a kitchen knife was not seized by responding officers. The occurrence address was held for scene security pending judicial authorization. J.P. Anderson granted the Telewarrant to Search the residence located at C[…], Town of Lakeshore. A search of the residence was completed and two knives with blood on their handles were located and seized by forensic identification officer, I/C Carron.

Count 1 - Aggravated Assault contrary to section 268 of the Criminal Code

The victim attended the Windsor Regional Hospital - Ouellette Campus where she was treated for non-life threatening but significant injures. DC Fleming attended the hospital and obtained an audio-recorded statement from the victim. The victim was being rolled into the operating room as the officer was attempting to obtain her brief preliminary statement. She was able to tell the investigator that her son, Jeff CAZABON stabbed her with a kitchen knife repeatedly and suffers from schizophrenia. She also stated that this is repeat behaviour for her son; that he has assaulted her & others in the past, however not with a knife.

When the police arrived on scene, Mr. Cazabon told the officers that his mother had been burying federal agents in the front yard of their residence and that he had done a great service to the police by stopping her from continuing to kill federal agents. He also stated that he needed to protect himself from his mother whom he believed was going to kill him. The officers believed that Mr. Cazabon was suffering from a mental break.”

Current Diagnoses

4. The current diagnoses taken from the Hospital Report are:

Schizophrenia (with an affective component)

Substance Use Disorder (in sustained remission)

Background and Personal History

5. Mr. Cazabon’s background and personal history are extensively reviewed in the Hospital Report which was filed as exhibit. Accordingly, there will be no reference to the details of the report in these Reasons. Mr. Cazabon was born in Windsor, Ontario and has one older sibling, a brother. His parents separated when he was very young, and he lived primarily with his mother. In adolescence he lived occasionally with his father and stepmother. Mr. Cazabon’s mother had a series of romantic partners, the longest of which was a relationship lasting from when Mr. Cazabon was 11 years old until he was about 18. His relationship with his stepmother was initially positive, although it became strained in his teenage years as he developed difficulties with substance use and major mental illness. Mr. Cazabon harboured a belief that his stepmother had in fact been responsible for his father's death. Mr. Cazabon had average marks at high school but dropped out after grade 11. At the age of 16 he told his mother that he believed he had “something wrong” with his mental health. He was admitted to hospital for his first psychiatric hospitalization and diagnosed with bipolar disorder. As a teenager, he was employed part time including working at Tim Horton~~'s delivering newspapers and in landscaping. He quit his last job at Tim Horton'~~s because of the side effects of psychiatric medications. He has been supported by ODSP since the age of 18. Mr. Cazabon has never had a significant romantic relationship.

6. Mr. Cazabon was vague in describing his substance use history. He acknowledged significant historical cannabis use beginning in his teenage years. He also admitted that he had used crystal methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, psilocybin, and MDMA. He also has a history of intravenous drug use. Mr. Cazabon acknowledged a history of excessive alcohol use in his early 20s.

7. Mr. Cazabon has an extensive psychiatric history. As set out in the Hospital Report, he has had at least 17 hospital admissions in the Windsor area since 2004 for serious mental health problems. Most often he was admitted to Windsor Regional Hospital or Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare in Windsor. At various times he has been diagnosed as suffering from a bipolar disorder, schizoaffective disorder, or schizophrenia. Most of his hospital admissions were involuntary under the Mental Health Act (MHA). The most recent hospitalization prior to the index offence was between January 15th and February 4, 2020. He was brought to hospital by police after physical aggression towards his brother who he believed was bringing women into the basement of his mother's house, sexually assaulting, and possibly killing them.

Position of the Parties

8. At the outset of the hearing, Ms. Zamprogna submitted that Mr. Cazabon continues to represent a significant threat to the safety of the public and that the necessary and appropriate disposition is a continuation of the current Detention Order with amendments to the pass structure. Mr. Rows supported the recommendation of the hospital. Ms. Carnelos generally supported the recommendation of the hospital but submitted that there should be a distinction in the privileges between the indirectly supervised passes and the longer passes into the community.

Evidence

9. The evidence on behalf of the hospital was presented by Dr. Quinn. Dr. Quinn stated that he was responsible for Mr. Cazabon's treatment up to the time of his discharge to the community on June 27, 2025. Mr. Cazabon's attending psychiatrist is now Dr. Arun Prakash. Dr. Quinn stated that his diagnosis for Mr. Cazabon is schizophrenia with a mood component. He said that this is similar to other diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder but has less of a mood component. In his words, it was a “distinction without a difference.” Dr. Quinn said that Mr. Cazabon's mental status has improved throughout the year. Mr. Cazabon has started to respond to the antipsychotic medication clozapine. He still demonstrates some psychotic symptoms and can be seen occasionally responding to auditory hallucinations and experiencing delusional beliefs. He also can be circumstantial and disorganized. Dr. Quinn said these symptoms are largely in the background. He is able to function during the day and is involved in programs, has friends and is enjoying a positive relationship with both his mother and his stepmother. Dr. Quinn said that Mr. Cazabon does still suffer from a wide variety of bizarre or fantastical delusions. Many of these are of a persecutory nature. The persecutory delusions about his mother are similar to the circumstances of the index offence. Dr. Quinn said that the team have developed an understanding of when Mr. Cazabon is having delusions in that in a non-delusional state, he refers to his mother as “mom,” whereas when he is suffering from delusions, he calls her “Cindy.” He will also talk about “Cindy’s” eyes being a different colour from his mother’s.

10. Dr. Quinn stated that the application for DSO support for Mr. Cazabon has not been completed. He said that the basis for a developmental diagnosis was that Mr. Cazabon was first found to be displaying symptoms at the age of 14 which is considered to be developmental for the purposes of the DSO program. Mr. Cazabon has limited insight into his illness and his symptoms. Although he will acknowledge that he has had “mood disorders” he does not acknowledge suffering from serious delusional beliefs.

11. Mr. Cazabon's SDM is his mother. Mr. Cazabon is compliant with his medications which are delivered orally. He is opposed to receiving long-acting injections. The medications are supervised by staff at the group home. Dr. Quinn stated that in the event that Mr. Cazabon started to use substances or was non-adherent with his medication then his decompensation would be relatively rapid because he continues to have symptoms of his illness. Mr. Cazabon has not engaged in substance use for more than a year now. He has been in the group home outside of Strathroy for about three months. It is located in a rural area and one of the reasons for that is to remove the immediate temptation for and access to substances. Mr. Cazabon did attend AA in the hospital, and this has helped with his insight into remaining abstinent from substances.

12. Dr. Quinn agreed with the assessment of risk from the HCR-20 that Mr. Cazabon represents a low to moderate risk to the safety of the public living in the community under the terms of a Detention Order in a supervised setting. This risk would rise to moderate to high under the terms of either a Conditional Discharge or an Absolute Discharge. Dr. Quinn stated that in his opinion Mr. Cazabon continues to represent a significant threat to the safety of the public. His symptoms are always present, and this represents a risk of aggression and violence. The group home in Strathroy presents Mr. Cazabon with support in medication and recreational activities. Mr. Cazabon has not expressed a wish to live independently, he is happy in the group home and in particular, liked that he was able to paint his room his chosen colour. Mr. Cazabon has both his mother and stepmother as approved persons. Before Mr. Cazabon is permitted to use the passes to visit with his approved persons, he is screened by staff for his mental status as set out above. Dr. Quinn stated that the MHA would not be sufficient to protect the safety of the public in the community.

13. Mr. Rows did not have any questions for Dr. Quinn.

14. In response to questions from Ms. Carnelos, Dr. Quinn stated Mr. Cazabon has in the past made comments with respect to the need for his antipsychotic medication. Most recently, Dr. Prakash has made minor adjustments to the timing of Mr. Cazabon's medication but has not altered the dosage. Dr. Quinn confirmed that Mr. Cazabon is doing very well in the community and is busy with activities at the group home.

15. In response to questions from the panel, Dr. Quinn elaborated as to the reason for including specific indirectly supervised privileges in the 72-hour and week-long passes. He stated that the treatment team were identifying that in their opinion, it would not be necessary for an approved person to have “eyes on” an individual on a pass 24 hours a day for the entire duration of the pass. As an example, he said that it would be permissible for Mr. Cazabon to go to the corner store to buy something by himself while on a pass with his approved person. This was in response to an issue being raised by other panels at other hearings at the hospital.

16. Neither Mr. Rows nor Ms. Carnelos called evidence at the hearing.

Submissions

17. All counsel reiterated the position taken at the outset of the hearing that the necessary and appropriate disposition was a continuation of the Detention Order with the amendments as set out in the Hospital Report.

Analysis and Disposition

18. The Board is unanimous in accepting the joint submission of the parties that Mr. Cazabon continues to represent a significant threat to the safety of the public. As found in the evidence of Dr. Quinn at the hearing and supported by the contents of the Hospital Report, Mr. Cazabon, although showing signs of improvement in his mental status, continues to suffer from symptoms of his major mental illness, schizophrenia. As set out in the Hospital Report, Mr. Cazabon has a significant history of substance use leading to violent and aggressive delusions. These delusional beliefs are similar to those which led to the commission of the index offence. Mr. Cazabon has only recently been transitioned to residing in the community. Although there has been no indication of substance use for more than a year, in the event of either noncompliance with his medication or substance use, Dr. Quinn stated that there would be a rapid decompensation in Mr. Cazabon's mental health and a significant increase in his risk to the safety of the public.

19. In crafting a disposition, the Board is required to consider the provisions of s. 672.54 of the Criminal Code of which the safety of the public is the paramount consideration. To his credit, Mr. Cazabon appears to have adapted to the new residence in Strathroy. He is happy at the group home and has busied himself by participating in numerous programs offered to residents. Although he did not testify at the hearing, Mr. Cazabon did state that it was his intention to pursue his education and to try and find employment in the Strathroy area. It is clear that the current residential situation is both necessary and appropriate with respect to the protection of the safety of the public and at the same time offering substantial opportunities for Mr. Cazabon's reintegration into the community.

20. The Board is unanimous in accepting the recommendation of the hospital as supported by counsel for the Attorney General of Ontario to include the opportunity for indirectly supervised time in the passes with approved persons as requested. The Board accepts the evidence of Dr. Quinn that this will provide guidance to both the treatment team and to approved persons charged with the responsibility of care for Mr. Cazabon when he is on a pass away from his residence.

DATED this 20^th day of November 2025, at the City of Toronto, in the Region of Toronto.

Mr. G. Beasley Alternate Chairperson

Office of the Registrar Ontario Review Board