Re: Mark Aninon
ORB File No: 8545
Hearing held on: Wednesday, June 4, 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: Ms. L. Banks Members: Dr. M. Kalia Dr. S. Chatterjee Mr. D. D’Intino Mr. S. Duffy
Parties Appearing:
Accused: Mark Aninon Counsel: Ms. J. Boissonneault
The person in charge of hospital: Representative: Ms. A. Marshall
Attorney General of Ontario: Counsel: Ms. N. MacDonald
REASONS FOR DISPOSITION
(Dated July 17, 2025)
Introduction
On April 23, 2024, Mark Aninon was found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder (“NCR”) of Criminal Code charges of attempt murder and assault with a weapon. At the time of the hearing, Mr. Singh was subject to a disposition of the Ontario Review Board dated June 27, 2024 detaining him at Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences (“Ontario Shores”) with privileges up to living in the community in accommodation approved by the person in charge.
On June 4, 2025, the Board convened a hearing in person at Ontario Shores Centre to conduct a hearing pursuant to s. 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code. The purpose of this hearing was to determine whether Mr. Aninon continues to pose a significant threat to the safety of the public and if so, to determine the necessary and appropriate Disposition, which is also the least onerous and least restrictive means to protect the public in consideration of the circumstances.
Current Psychiatric Diagnoses:
Schizophrenia
Cannabis Use Disorder, in sustained remission in a controlled environment.
Index Offences:
- The details of the index offences are extracted from the Hospital Report dated May 16, 2025, at pages 2-3, which are as follows:
“Charge #1 Attempt Murder – June 9, 2023
Mr. Mark Aninon has no criminal record. He is 19 years old at time of index offences. In June of 2023, he was working at “Made in Mexico”, a popular restaurant on Main Street in Newmarket. Another man named Mark Cabelin also worked at Made in Mexico.
On June 9, 2023, Mark Aninon finished his shift at 3PM. He stayed at the restaurant after his shift finished. Mark Cabelin started his shift at 4PM. When he got there, he entered the kitchen.
Mr. Aninon went into the kitchen after him, approached Cabelin, asked him in Filipino “what do you want to do with your life?” or “what’s the plan” and Cabelin started to tell him that he wanted to go to school. Mr. Aninon then said something like “he didn’t know what he wanted to do with his own life,” when Mr. Aninon suddenly swung and stabbed him in the abdomen twice with a knife.
Mr. Cabelin has known Mr. Aninon for some time. He said they were co-workers, who were friends, never had any arguments, and would sometimes hang out outside of work.
Several people witnessed the stabbing or its aftermath.
A number of people witnessed the stabbing or its aftermath, and in the Agreed Statement of Fact some summaries of their observations are reproduced. In summary, a number of people witnessed Mr. Aninon with what is collectively described as a four-inch blade and that he stabbed Mr. Cabelin and started without warning.
Mark Cabelin was rushed to hospital with life threatening injuries. He was bleeding extensively. He had emergency surgery, had to have a kidney removed, and suffered damage to both his small and large intestines.
On June 15, the Officer in Charge received the following medical update: “I spoke to the mother of the victim, Mark Cabelin, this morning. Mark has completed his surgeries. He is no longer intubated but requires a tube for eating. He is heavily medicated and somewhat lucid, and his mother said he can barely whisper.”
After police received information from the accused’s brother that he was at home after the stabbing, police rushed to his address. Mr. Aninon’s dad came outside at around 4:30Pm with Mark Aninon behind him. Mr. Aninon was arrested for attempted murder.
A search incident to arrest located a folding knife in his hoodie pocket. There was blood on the knife. His clothing was seized – it was bloody.
Mr. Aninon gave a statement to police after speaking to a lawyer he chose from a list of lawyers that was provided to him at his request. He admits to being in the kitchen area with Cabelin after his shift. He said he felt threatened and stabbed Cabelin in self defence. When asked to explain what made him feel threatened, he said “I don’t know”? He admitted to bringing a knife. He said it was a “fresh knife.” He remembers pulling his knife out in the kitchen. He agrees with the detective that “this was a mistake.”
He then says he is sorry to the detective. He continues to maintain he felt threatened but does not elaborate. When shown a picture of the knife taken from him, he said, “This is personal,” and then would not elaborate on what he meant by this, other than saying it is “straight personal” and it was “very personal,” apparently in reference to the conflict between him and Mark. Detective asks if the personal issue is about work, money, drugs, or girls – accused says none of those things. Says it wasn’t trash talking or being embarrassed. Says there is no beef between the two of them.
His affect is flat throughout the interview, and he is very slow to answer questions. Mr. Aninon stabbed Mark Cabelin and was trying to kill him, for reasons that remain unclear today.
Charge #2 Assault with a Weapon - July 9, 2023
On June 15, Mr. Aninon was released on surety bail to his parents, with a term to be on house arrest in constant presence of a surety.
On June 18, Mr. Aninon’s mother called 911 with concerns about Mr. Aninon’s mental state.
Mr. Aninon was transported to Southlake Hospital voluntarily.
On July 9, Mr. Aninon approached another patient named Robert BEARE. Mr. Beare is seated in a wheelchair and pulled a pencil out, and viciously stabbed this co-patient four times in the right side of his neck. This assault was entirely unprovoked. Mr. Beare told police he does not even know the person who stabbed him, had no interactions with him earlier in the day and certainly no fights...
Mr. Beare has limited mobility and was only able to raise his arm to attempt to fend off the attack once it started. Fortunately, the pencil did not deeply penetrate his neck but left a number of superficial injuries which were photographed by police. Mr. Aninon had to be completely sedated. He has remained in custody since.”
Without Prejudice Position of the Parties:
At the commencement of the hearing, Ms. Marshall presented the Hospital’s position, which was that a Conditional Discharge was the necessary and appropriate Disposition. Counsel for the Hospital recommended that terms of the Disposition include that he resides at the family home and report not less than once every two weeks while living in the community, that he consents to take treatment pursuant to section 672. 55 of the Criminal Code, a prohibition on use of alcohol, drugs and other intoxicants together with a testing provision, weapons’ prohibition, and a no-contact provision.
Ms. McDonald for the Attorney General agreed with the Hospital’s position.
Counsel for the accused, Ms. Boissonneault, also agreed, and thus the parties presented the Board with a joint submission for our consideration.
Evidence at the Hearing:
The Board had available the evidence and documents forming the Record, the Exhibits, and oral evidence from Dr. Derek Pallandi.
Dr. Pallandi adopted the contents of the Hospital Report, which he coauthored and was dated May 16, 2025.
Dr. Pallandi had no updates to the Hospital Report. He testified that in the past year Mr. Aninon did well as an inpatient. He was compliant with his treatment and presented no behavioural concerns. He was discharged from the Hospital on February 4, 2025, and was living with his family.
While living in the community, Mr. Aninon has remained compliant with his long-acting injectable medication which he receives every 90 days and has not engaged in any substance abuse. In the coming months, he wishes to work on a food truck, and thus his trajectory appears positive.
Dr. Pallandi testified that despite being well medicated, Mr. Aninon still experiences negative symptoms of his mental illness, which includes a flat affect, poverty of speech, and lack of spontaneous engagement. His mental status can sometimes be difficult to assess because of these negative symptoms.
In last year’s reasons, concerns were raised regarding Mr. Aninon’s guardedness. There was a lack of clarity about the underlying cause, and it was suggested that further psychological assessment could help determine whether the guardedness stemmed from negative symptoms or other contributing factors. Dr. Pallandi indicated that he was not aware of any plan for such an assessment. However, he believes Mr. Aninon’s guardedness is mainly due to negative symptoms. When asked about the potential role of nightmares in amplifying these negative symptoms, Dr. Pallandi stated that he may review this further with Mr. Aninon but believes it to be likely to have been transitional.
Mr. Aninon’s insight into his mental illness is not robust. He does however acknowledge that he requires medication and that taking that medication will keep him psychologically well.
Dr. Pallandi confirmed that Mr. Aninon’s family have received psychoeducation, are well informed about his illness and are supportive in his recovery. The doctor noted that his family members attend meetings with the outpatient team, and they appeared to be well educated in terms of recognizing the early warning signs of his illness.
In response to questions from Ms. Boissonneault, Dr. Pallandi confirmed that individuals who receive treatment quickly after their first psychotic episode have much better outcomes. Furthermore, Mr. Aninon’s trust and engagement with the treatment team is improving.
In response to a question from a panel member, the doctor advised that the rapidity of Mr. A’s decompensation into acute psychosis at the time of the index offences was when he was untreated. He is now treated with a long-acting medication that is easy to monitor for adherence.
In response to panel questions, Dr. Pallandi agreed that Mr. Aninon’s transition from a Detention Order to a request for a Conditional Discharge Disposition is occurring quickly – after just 4 months in the community – however, he felt that the treatment teams’ approach to Mr. Aninon will not change regardless of the Disposition. Furthermore, Dr. Pallandi was confident that Mr. Aninon would return to the Hospital voluntarily if asked, and that he would likely meet the criteria under the Mental Health Act for readmission, if he became unwell.
Analysis and Conclusions
Having heard and considered the entirety of the evidence as well as the submissions from the parties, the panel agrees with the joint submission of the parties that Mr. Aninon remains a significant threat to the safety of the public and a Conditional Discharge Disposition with the stipulated terms and conditions is the necessary and appropriate and the least onerous and least restrictive option in consideration of all of the circumstances.
Mr. Aninon suffers from a psychotic disorder and a substance abuse disorder. The psychotic symptoms of his schizophrenia appear to be well treated with his current medication regime, but he continues to experience negative symptoms of this disease, making it difficult to assess his mental status.
Mr. Aninon has some insight into his mental illness and the need for medication, but this is not robust and requires further development to attenuate his risk of violence to others. He has thus far declined additional resources to address his concurrent disorders, and such treatment would be beneficial in assisting him to developing a concrete relapse prevention plan.
When unwell, Mr. Aninon committed serious violence offences against the victims that resulted in serious, life changing consequences for one of them. He has a history of attempted elopement from Hospital and has in recent periods, requested a reduction in his antipsychotic medications because of his perception that long-term use of the medication would lead to adverse outcomes. These factors all contribute to Mr. Aninon posing a significant risk to the safety of the public, but a risk that the panel believes can be attenuated by the conditions of a Conditional Discharge Disposition.
The Panel further finds that the provisions of the Mental Health Act would be sufficient to return Mr. Aninon to the Hospital quickly in the event of a deterioration in his mental status, and the panel believes he would readmit himself voluntarily if he experienced a decompensation in his mental status.
Therefore, the panel agrees with the joint submission that Mr. Aninon remains a significant threat to the safety of the public and that a Conditional Discharge Disposition with the above suggested terms is the necessary and appropriate, least onerous and least restrictive Disposition in consideration of all of the circumstances.
The panel notes that Mr. Aninon is young man, who is progressing rapidly through the Forensic Mental Health system, despite committing serious offences. We would encourage him to engage in further rehabilitative programming specific to substance abuse, to work on further developing his insight and to find some structured programming or activities to better occupy his time.
DATED this 17^th^ day of July 2025, at the City of Toronto, in the Toronto Region.
Mr. D. D’Intino Legal Member
___________________________ Office of the Registrar Ontario Review Board