Re: Julia Mazurek, 2025 CanLII 52794

Ontario Review Board

Re: Julia Mazurek

ORB File No: 7341

Hearing held on: Thursday, May 1, 2025

Place of hearing: Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences 700 Gordon Street, Whitby

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

Before: Alternate Chairperson: Mr. G. Beasley Members: Dr. B. Sheppard (via Zoom) Dr. W. Loza Ms. C. Murray Mr. A. Bouvier

Parties Appearing:

Accused: Julia Mazurek Counsel: Ms. J. Boissonneault

The person in charge of hospital: Counsel: Ms. A. Marshall

Attorney General of Ontario: Counsel: Ms. N. MacDonald

REASONS FOR DISPOSITION

(Dated June 4, 2025)

Introduction

1On April 12, 2018, the accused Julia Mazurek, 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 5, 2024, Ms. Mazurek was ordered to be discharged from the Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences (“Ontario Shores” or the “hospital”), on conditions which included continuing to take medication as prescribed pursuant to s. 672.55(1) of the Criminal Code and reporting to the person in charge of Ontario Shores not less than once every four weeks. In addition, Ms. Mazurek was prohibited from contact or communication, direct or indirect, with the victim of the index offence except with her written revocable consent and as approved by the person in charge.

2On May 1, 2025, the ORB convened a hearing at Ontario Shores for the purpose of the annual review of Ms. Mazurek’s Disposition pursuant to s. 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code. Ms. Mazurek was in attendance at the hearing and assisted by a Polish interpreter. Ms. Boissonneault appeared as counsel for Ms. Mazurek. Counsel for the Attorney General of Ontario was Ms. MacDonald and counsel for the hospital, Ms. Marshall.

Index Offence

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

“I reviewed the notes of Police Constable Kinna, badge 2289. He interviewed the victim, Melissa Henry, in hospital. She indicated that she, Ronand Mazurek and their daughter had all attended Ms. Mazurek’s home for her birthday. They arrived at approximately 5 PM. As they were about to leave, and as she was putting on her jacket, Ms. Mazurek attacked her from behind with a knife. Ronald Mazurek put down their daughter and pulled his mother off of her. Ms. Henry then grabbed her daughter and ran out of the apartment to safety. She indicated that Ms. Mazurek had let them into the building when they arrived and met them at the elevator. They sat down for dinner, and there was “nothing out of the ordinary.” They were there for approximately one hour. After dinner they talked, and gave Ms. Mazurek her birthday gift, which consisted of a framed family picture. Ms. Henry noted that she did not have much of a relationship with Ms. Mazurek; neither did Mr. Mazurek. She indicated that they decided to leave as their daughter was getting tired. She reported that Ms. Mazurek did not say anything prior to the attack. She noted that she had only visited Ms. Mazurek three to four times in the past. She denied any history of violent incidents between her and the accused. She indicated that the knife was a kitchen knife with a 5-6-inch blade.

I reviewed the notes of Police Constable Kerr, badge 3392. He interviewed Ronand Mazurek, Ms. Mazurek’s son. Mr. Mazurek indicated that they arrived at his mother’s building at approximately 5:15 or 5:30 in the afternoon. Ms. Mazurek was not talkative. They ate and then decided to leave.

Mr. Mazurek said that he heard Ms. Henry screaming and saw his mother stab her “many times.” He indicated that he pushed Ms. Mazurek away and punched her. He tried to grab the knife from her and cut his thumb. Ms. Henry picked up the baby, and he held the door shut. He eventually took the elevator down. He reported that his mother suffered from mental illness. He indicated that when they first arrived, a woman let them into the apartment building, and they met his mother at the elevator. He said that they went to her apartment, and that she appeared to be quiet, and tired. He said, “she seemed off.” He said that Ms. Mazurek went to the bathroom, and he and Ms. Henry decided to leave. He said that during the attack Ms. Mazurek said, “Get this whore out of my apartment and never bring her here”.”

Current Diagnosis:

4The current diagnosis as taken from the Hospital Report is as follows:

Schizophrenia

Criminal History

5Ms. Mazurek had no prior criminal history.

Personal History

6Ms. Mazurek’s personal history is set out in detail in the Hospital Report and need not be repeated in these Reasons. After graduating from high school in Poland, Ms. Mazurek moved to Canada in 1992 with her husband. The couple separated after arriving in Canada. There were three children of the marriage, two of whom lived with Ms. Mazurek and one who lived with his father. All three children began living with their father after Ms. Mazurek’s first involvement with the mental health system following an assault on a police officer. This did not lead to criminal charges.

7As set out in the Hospital Report, Ms. Mazurek first received treatment for schizophrenia while residing in Poland prior to immigrating to Canada. The onset of schizophrenia apparently coincided with a thyroidectomy. Ms. Mazurek was prescribed medication which she complied with until about 2015 when she stopped and began presenting with increased signs of paranoia. In 2016, Ms. Mazurek was admitted to St. Joseph's Health Centre for approximately one week. Prior to her admission, her daughter noticed that she was walking about with a kitchen knife concealed in her coat. Ms. Mazurek expressed paranoid thoughts about being threatened by others at that time. She was readmitted to the hospital for three weeks in August of 2016, once again following noncompliance with her medication and endorsing multiple persecutory delusions. She believed her children were exposed to “torture, extorsion, poisoning, rape and multiple other atrocities” by their father. While living in the community for the next year, Ms. Mazurek was assisted by case workers from the hospital. In August, her daughter advised the crisis team that she had been without medication for the past year. Once again, she began to express paranoid delusions. Ms. Mazurek had no known relationships beyond her husband. Her employment history was unknown, and she was reported to be unemployed at the time of the index offence.

Position of the Parties

8At the outset of the hearing, Ms. Marshall submitted that the recommendation of the treatment team was for a continuation of the current conditional discharge without amendment. Ms. MacDonald and Ms. Boissonneault supported the recommendation of the hospital. All counsel confirmed that there would be no challenge to a finding that Ms. Mazurek continues to represent a significant threat to the safety of the public.

Evidence

9The evidence on behalf of the hospital was presented by Dr. Bhullar. She is the co-author of the Hospital Report which was entered as an exhibit.

10By way of update, Dr. Bhullar stated that as of the week of the hearing, Ms. Mazurek had agreed to an increase in her dose of the antipsychotic clozapine and the treatment team were working with her Substitute Decision Maker (SDM) to put that into effect. Dr. Bhullar confirmed that as set out in the Hospital Report, Ms. Mazurek has stated that she will stop taking all of her medications in the event that she was to receive an absolute discharge. If this were to occur, Dr. Bhullar stated that Ms. Mazurek’s mental status would decline within days because she is maintained on oral medication only. She stated that this would highly likely result in an increase in Ms. Mazurek’s risk to the safety of the public.

11Dr. Bhullar stated that Ms. Mazurek continues to reside at the same group home in the community. With respect to the possibility of a cognitive assessment, Dr. Bhullar stated that Ms. Mazurek has met with the psychologist on two occasions and that the doctor is waiting to gather collateral information from Ms. Mazurek’s daughter. Ms. Mazurek remains cooperative with the treatment team. Dr. Bhullar confirmed that Ms. Mazurek also enjoys the support of her daughter who also works with the team. In response to a question from Ms. MacDonald, Dr. Bhullar confirmed that Ms. Mazurek maintains that although she wants to stay under the authority of the ORB and to continue to work with the Forensic Outpatient Service (FOS), she will stop her medication if she receives an absolute discharge. Dr. Bhullar reiterated that this would cause a decline in her mental status.

12Dr. Bhullar confirmed with Ms. Boissonneault that Ms. Mazurek continues to be co-operative and pleasant with the treatment team. She was asked about the possibility of completion of the neuropsychological assessment referred to in the Hospital Report. Dr. Bhullar stated that there are a number of hurdles with respect to the completion of this assessment. The first is that there are few geriatric psychologists available to complete the assessment, and the second is the language barrier which exists in that Ms. Mazurek’s native language is Polish. Dr. Bhullar stated that the hospital is looking at options to perhaps complete the report at some point in time in the future. One of the issues is that the team could not simply use a Polish interpreter to conduct the testing as the tests are not validated for anything other than the English language. Ms. Boissonneault asked about the ability of Ms. Mazurek’s current group home to care for her growing needs in the event of cognitive and physical decline. Dr. Bhullar stated that the group home can care for her at this point in time and the treatment team are providing support as needed. In the event that it becomes necessary, the treatment team will look for appropriate alternate housing in the community.

13In response to questions from the panel, Dr. Bhullar agreed that as long as Ms. Mazurek remains on her medication and has the support of her housing, her risk to the community is low. Dr. Bhullar was asked whether the team had given consideration to transitioning Ms. Mazurek to a civil mental health team in the community with a view to ultimately an absolute discharge. Dr. Bhullar stated that this was not being considered by the team as a result of the recent discovery of Ms. Mazurek’s expanding delusional system to include staff and co-patients at the home. Dr. Bhullar said the team need to have a better understanding of Ms. Mazurek’s delusional system, her cognitive abilities and to determine if her residual psychotic symptoms can be better managed on other medication. Dr. Bhullar said it was premature to consider transferring Ms. Mazurek to a geriatric facility at this time. The team need to establish further information about her cognitive issues.

14Dr. Bhullar agreed that the description she had used of Ms. Mazurek during last year’s hearing of her being “quietly psychotic” still applied. She further agreed that this enhances the risk due to there being no outward signs of a developing psychosis. When asked about Ms. Mazurek’s statement that she wishes to continue to work with the outpatient team but will stop taking her medication if she receives an absolute discharge, Dr. Bhullar said that the basis for this is trust. Ms. Mazurek takes a long time to learn to trust individuals, and she has developed that kind of trusting relationship both with the staff at the home and with the treatment team. She is very comfortable with them and enjoys working with them. At the same time Dr. Bhullar said it is important to note that Ms. Mazurek has consistently been resistant to increases in dosage of her antipsychotic medication.

15Neither Ms. MacDonald nor Ms. Boissonneault called any evidence.

Submissions

16All counsel reiterated the joint submission made at the outset of the hearing.

Analysis and Disposition

17The Board is unanimous in accepting the joint submission of the parties that Ms. Mazurek continues to represent a significant threat to the safety of the public. Ms. Mazurek is described by Dr. Bhullar as being “quietly psychotic.” This enhances the risk that she represents insofar as there are no outward signs of her paranoid and delusional thinking. In this respect, much as occurred at the time of the index offence, there would be little to no warning of her responding to her paranoid delusions.

18The Hospital Report indicates that the clinically based assessment of risk was not updated due to there being no significant clinical changes in Ms. Mazurek’s presentation and no change in the disposition being recommended. As set out in last year's Reasons the clinical assessment of risk states as follows:

“However, of ongoing concern, Ms. Mazurek continues to strongly adhere to her complex and entrenched persecutory delusional belief system, without assessing its validity. She continues to harbour the belief that her son’s partner (victim of the index offence) is mistreating her son and remains connected to a terrorist group; she continues to believe her actions towards this individual was justified (“self-defence”) and not premised in illness. Moreover, it is clear Ms. Mazurek has broadened her belief system to incorporate individuals within her current group home (e.g., “thieves,” related to a “terrorist group”), who perpetuate nefarious acts towards her.”

At page 41 of this year’s report:

The concern remains that should her cognitive issues worsen and/or she face increased stressors over the upcoming year, she could experience a further exacerbation of the paranoid beliefs (especially, those targeting the co-residents and staff), in turn increasing her violence risk significantly. In this case, Ms. Mazurek may be compelled to retaliate in an unprovoked and impulsive manner against her co-residents, as she did during the index offense. Therefore, it would be essential for Ms. Mazurek to be monitored closely as it will be necessary to intervene acutely to manage her violence risk to the public.

19As stated in the Hospital Report, Ms. Mazurek’s strongest support in the community is her daughter, Alexandra. The panel notes that Alexandra confirms that should her mother receive an absolute discharge she will immediately stop taking her medication. Should this occur, Alexandra has stated that she would be “too fearful to maintain a relationship.” Although she has been a strong supporter for many years she has witnessed first-hand that when left to her own devices, Ms. Mazurek will stop taking her psychiatric medication and is fearful that this might happen again if she were to receive an absolute discharge.

20In crafting a disposition, the Board is required to consider all of the provisions of s. 672.54 of the Criminal Code, of which the protection of the public is the paramount concern. The Board is unanimous in finding that the necessary and appropriate disposition is a continuation of the current conditional discharge without amendment.

21The panel notes that one significant change over the past reporting year has been the recent involvement of Ms. Mazurek’s son. His decision to visit with his mother is significant and not surprisingly, was well received by Ms. Mazurek. The panel wishes to take this opportunity to wish Ms. Mazurek and her family well as they move towards reconciliation.