Re: Jheidohn Serieaux
ORB File No: 8768
Hearing held on: Thursday, July 17, 2025
Place of hearing: Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care
Pursuant to: Section 672.47(3) of the Criminal Code
Before: Alternate Chairperson: Ms. C. Finley Members: Dr. J.C. Ferencz Dr. B. Bordoff Ms. A. La Viola Mr. A. Bouvier
Parties Appearing: Accused: Jheidohn Serieaux Counsel: Ms. S. Nadarajah The person in charge of hospital: Counsel: Mr. J. Thomson Attorney General of Ontario: Counsel: Ms. J. McKenzie
REASONS FOR DISPOSITION
(Dated August 21, 2025)
Introduction
On April 17, 2025, Jheidohn Serieaux was found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder (“NCR”) on a charge of first-degree murder, contrary to the Criminal Code of Canada. The Honourable Justice declined to make a disposition and remanded Mr. Serieaux on a Warrant of Committal to Waypoint Centre for Mental Health (“Waypoint”/the “hospital”) for an initial hearing before the Ontario Review Board (“ORB”/the “Board”).
On July 17, 2025, the Board convened a panel pursuant to s. 672.47(1) of the Criminal Code. Mr. Serieaux was present and accompanied by his counsel, Ms. Nadarajah. Mr. Serieaux’s mother, Alisa Dobozanovic, the victim’s mother, Lori Martini, and other family members of the victim also were present.
At the outset of the proceedings, all parties were canvassed as to their positions on the issues to be determined by the Board: whether Mr. Serieaux represents a significant threat to the safety of the public; and if so, the necessary and appropriate disposition having regard to the criteria set out in s. 672.54 of the Criminal Code.
Mr. Thomson, on behalf of the hospital, submitted that Mr. Serieaux represents a significant threat to the safety of the public and that the necessary and appropriate disposition is a detention order at the High Secure Provincial Programs Division of Waypoint with the ability to attend within or outside of the hospital for necessary medical, dental, legal, or compassionate purpose. Further, Mr. Serieaux is to abstain from the non-medical use of alcohol or drugs, to submit samples of his urine and/or breath when required and refrain from having in his possession any weapon. Ms. McKenzie, on behalf of the Ministry of the Attorney General, concurred in the hospital’s positions. Ms. Nadarajah specifically conceded the issue of significant threat and the appropriateness of a detention order at Waypoint. She indicated that Mr. Serieaux would be requesting additional privileges.
Findings
- For the reasons that follow, the Board finds that Mr. Serieaux represents a significant threat to the safety of the public and the necessary and appropriate disposition is a detention order at the High Secure Provincial Programs Division of Waypoint with the terms and privileges as recommended by the hospital and, in addition, the ability to access hospital grounds, beyond the secure perimeter, escorted by staff.
The Evidence
- The evidence at the hearing consisted of the Hospital Report, dated June 19, 2025 (ex. 1), the victim impact statement of Lori Martini (ex. 2), and the viva voce evidence of Dr. Komer, Mr. Serieaux’s treating psychiatrist.
The Index Offence
- The circumstances of the index offence have been taken from the Hospital Report. On August 8, 2021, Mr. Serieaux was staying at the Cathedral Good Shepherd shelter in Hamilton, Ontario. He was observed to be pacing the halls and angry. He left the shelter and joined the victim and others outside of the Mission Services shelter. According to witnesses, Mr. Serieaux told them he was hungry and planned to rob an elderly man who was passing by. In response, the victim punched Mr. Serieaux, grabbed him by the hair and shoved him into the street. The victim later disclosed to friends that this was meant to teach him a lesson not to hurt the elderly. A short time later Mr. Serieaux returned to the scene of the fight and waited for the victim. When the victim exited the dining hall of the Mission Services alone, Mr. Serieaux immediately ran towards him and stabbed the victim in the neck. The entire event was captured on CCTV. Mr. Serieaux fled the scene and was arrested on October 3, 2021.
Background Information
The Hospital Report contains detailed information as to Mr. Serieaux’s personal background and psychiatric history and need not be reviewed beyond the following material points. Mr. Serieaux is a 27-year-old man who was raised in a highly conflictual environment. He and his mother lived in a home where his father and his father’s girlfriend also resided. Mr. Serieaux reported that he was physically and mentally abused by his father and had a difficult relationship with his mother.
In 2007, Mr. Serieaux and his mother moved to Hamilton. He began to exhibit problematic behaviour, including truancy, fighting, destruction of property, associating with gang members, and generally endorsing negative attitudes and rule-breaking conduct. He was suspended from school on a number of occasions for fighting and smoking cannabis. Mr. Serieaux achieved grade 8 and some grade 9 credits. He has been receiving benefits from the Ontario Disability Support Program since he was 20.
Mr. Serieaux has not had stable housing since he was 15. He has stayed at various shelters and with friends when he was not welcome at his mother’s residence.
Mr. Serieaux first started using cannabis at the age of 13 or 14 and continued to use significant amounts on a daily basis up to the time of his arrest for the index offence. Significant problematic alcohol and cocaine use was present. According to the Hospital Report his criminal convictions include assault, assault with a weapon, threatening and robbery.
Mr. Serieaux’s first contact with psychiatric services occurred in July 2013. He was brought to the emergency department at McMaster Children’s Hospital by his mother. She reported that he had been demonstrating “strange” behaviour, threatening to kill his uncle, hearing voices of friends and family and reporting tactile hallucinations. He also reported paranoia and delusions. His mother advised that he had knives and a bat in his room. During an admission nine months later, she reported that he had threatened her with a knife.
Since that initial admission, Mr. Serieaux has been admitted to hospital over 10 times, often in the context of medication noncompliance and/or substance use. He would present as hypervigilant and physically aggressive, often requiring both chemical and physical restraints. Mr. Serieaux reported that he did not believe that he had a mental illness or required medication. Cannabis provided him with the relief that he sought. In 2015, he was placed on a Community Treatment Order as a means to ensure that he received his scheduled injections of antipsychotic medication. His diagnoses upon discharge were Schizoaffective Disorder, Substance Abuse, Antisocial Personality Disorder and Social Anxiety Disorder. He was referred to the Outpatient Schizophrenia Clinic (TOPSS) for continuing care in the community, with which he was intermittently compliant.
In January 2018, Mr. Serieaux was admitted to St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton pursuant to a Treatment Order for several charges, including aggravated assault. After being found unfit to stand trial, he was brought directly to seclusion from court. He required physical restraint by correctional officers and hospital security to administer medication. After receiving treatment for two months, he was found fit to stand trial. Notre Dame youth housing supports arranged for him to have his own apartment. Unfortunately, he left that apartment and returned to reside with his mother.
Mr. Serieaux was hospitalized in August 2020 when police attended his mother’s residence as he was presenting as paranoid and threatened to kill his mother. He spent most of his admission in seclusion with elevated mood, irritability, inappropriate sexual behaviour, and constant verbal aggression. He was started on a mood stabilizer with good effect. He was discharged directly from seclusion to Mission Shelter with follow up with TOPSS clinic. However, clinic staff had difficulty contacting Mr. Serieaux as he would check into shelters using an alias.
In the months leading up to the index offence, Mr. Serieaux had a number of arrests and admissions to hospital. In March 2021, he was brought to St. Joseph’s following his arrest for throwing a cup of tea at someone at Tim Horton’s and threatening someone who tried to intervene with a knife. He also reportedly grabbed a woman’s buttocks. He required chemical restraints due to his agitation and aggression. Mr. Serieaux was discharged back to police custody as it was opined that there was no basis to admit him pursuant to the Mental Health Act.
In April 2021, Mr. Serieaux was charged with two counts of uttering death threats, sexual assault and two counts of failing to comply with probation. Upon admission to the detention centre, he threatened staff and presented with hyperactivity, positive symptoms, pressured speech with grandiose religiosity and sexually inappropriate behaviour towards the nursing staff. He endorsed delusions that he was a “prophet of God”. He became very agitated when asked to consent to the administration of his antipsychotic medication by injection. He started yelling and stated, "I am not schizophrenic. I told you I am a psychopath. I am a serial killer of women. I will kill you and your family, you bitch.” The next day he was admitted to St. Joseph’s pursuant to a Form 1 under the Mental Health Act. He received his injection pursuant to consent provided by the Public Guardian and Trustee. Mr. Serieaux remained hospitalized until May 25, 2021, spending the majority of his time in restraints. He was returned to the detention centre.
While in custody at the detention centre, Mr. Serieaux continued to refuse his injections of antipsychotic medication. He insisted on only receiving Ativan. He was released from custody back into the community on June 7, 2021.
On September 26, 2022, Mr. Serieaux was admitted to the High Secure, Provincial Forensic Division of Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care under the auspices of a Treatment Order for the index offence. After being found fit to stand trial, Mr. Serieaux remained at Waypoint initially pursuant to a “keep fit” order and then pursuant to a Warrant of Committal after being found NCR. He has remained on the Forensic Assessment Unit under the care of Dr. Komer throughout his admission.
Mr. Serieaux’s current diagnoses are:
- Schizoaffective Disorder, bipolar type
- Polysubstance Use Disorder, in sustained remission in a controlled environment
- Antisocial Personality Disorder
- The Hospital Report at pp. 70-71 includes the following description of Mr. Serieaux’s presentation:
“Mr. Serieaux’s hospitalization has been replete with numerous maladaptive behaviours, including physical aggression and assaultive behaviour (spitting, punching, kicking), verbal aggression (racial slurs, derogatory comments), threats of death, environmental aggression, sexually inappropriate behaviour, verbal sexual aggression, throwing bodily fluids, smearing feces, and flooding his room. He has also attempted to make weapons out of plastic spoons, toothbrushes etc. and participated in regular property destruction such as vandalizing his MP3 players, the patient portable phone or defacing his room with a pen. Both staff and co-patients have been victim to the aforementioned behaviours…
Mr. Serieaux regularly references his index offence and will often use it in an attempt to threaten others, “I have killed before, and I will do it again”. Redirection is typically ineffective, and staff are required to disengage as a means to de-escalate the behaviour.”
Mr. Serieaux has been inconsistent with compliance with medication. He at times has refused, at times “cheeked” medication and at other times, crushed or snorted his medication.
“Mr. Serieaux presents as pathologically oppositional and contradictory.”1 Since his admission to Waypoint, Mr. Serieaux has had seven periods of seclusion resulting from threatening, aggressive and assaultive conduct towards both staff and co-patients as well as sexually inappropriate behaviour towards female staff. The Hospital Report includes numerous examples of this behaviour from pages 73-83, including threatening to kill staff and attend their homes and rape family members. His most recent period of seclusion was from December 8, 2024, to June 19, 2025.
While in seclusion, Mr. Serieaux’s behaviour is managed through the use of a Crisis Prevention Plan. The plan includes a progression of steps of de-restraint, moving to decreasing amounts of restraint with each successful step. Mr. Serieaux has had difficulty during this process due to his repeated maladaptive behaviours.
During the periods when not in seclusion, Mr. Serieaux attended some groups, including music and gardening. However, he frequently exhibited inappropriate behaviour, including using derogatory sexual terms and insulting other participants.
The Risk Assessment Report provided in May 2025 found that Mr. Serieaux possesses 10/10 of the historical and 5/5 of the clinical risk factors for future violence. Dr. Komer came to the following clinical assessment of risk as found at p. 92 of the Hospital Report:
“Mr. Serieaux is a significant threat to the safety of the public. He has a major mental illness for which he has largely remained untreated and been nonadherent with treatment. Mr. Serieaux has active psychotic symptoms about which he lacks insight into their nature, a history of verbal and physical aggression and sexually inappropriate behaviour and an antisocial personality disorder. His index offence was very serious and resulted in the death of the victim. Mr. Serieaux has a prior criminal record which is diverse and includes offenses for assault, weapons use and uttering threats. He lacks a supportive social network. There is a history of an alcohol use disorder and a substance use disorder, the latter of which has included his prescribed medications. Mr. Serieaux has problems with anger management and impulsivity.”
Dr. Komer testified before the Board. He reported that over the previous two weeks Mr. Serieaux had regularly agreed to take medication without issue, including clonazepam, olanzapine, and divalproex (Epival). Dr. Komer stated that Mr. Serieaux’s mental status improves significantly with consistent adherence to treatment. He is currently exercising passes that allow him to go off the unit accompanied by staff, which allows him to access the pool, the coffee social and play billiards.
In response to questions from Ms. Nadarajah, Dr. Komer advised that Mr. Serieaux has not reported any hallucinations or paranoid ideation in the last month. There have been no observations by staff that he has been responding to internal stimuli. Dr. Komer indicated that he would support the inclusion of escorted passes beyond the secure perimeter in Mr. Serieaux’s disposition. These opportunities are only offered a few times a year.
Ms. Martini chose to read her Victim Impact Statement. She describes her son as being funny, caring, loving and hardworking. He will be missed by his family.
All parties maintained their initial positions. With respect to the escorted passes, Mr. Thomson submitted that on the one hand the privilege could be an incentive to work hard but on the other hand it could be a source of frustration and discouragement if he is not able to attain that privilege. Ms. McKenzie submitted that it is too early to extend the privileges beyond what was initially recommended by the hospital and stressed that the improvement, although impressive, was very recent. It has been only two weeks of compliance with treatment. Ms. Nadarajah focused on the recent improvements demonstrated by Mr. Serieaux and submitted that the inclusion of the escorted passes was appropriate and represented the least intrusive and least onerous disposition.
Analysis and Conclusion
The Board has carefully considered the Hospital Report and the evidence of Dr. Komer and unanimously concludes that Mr. Serieaux represents a significant threat to the safety of the public. Mr. Serieaux has a diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder and a long history of medication noncompliance and significant substance use. He has repeatedly demonstrated violence and aggressive behaviour, culminating in the index offence, the most serious of criminal offences. In the circumstances, the joint submission is appropriate.
Having found that Mr. Serieaux represents a significant threat to the safety of the public, the Board must consider the necessary and appropriate disposition taking into consideration the criteria set out in s. 672.54 of the Criminal Code, which includes the need to protect the public from dangerous persons, the mental condition of the accused, the integration of the accused into society and the other needs of the accused.
The Board unanimously finds that the necessary and appropriate disposition is a detention order at Waypoint’s High Secure Provincial Forensic Programs Division. Mr. Serieaux requires the intensive structure and support only available on that unit. Given the amount of time that he has required seclusion, this unit has been able to provide him with seclusion relief as appropriate, which would not be available in any other facility. The joint submission in this regard also is appropriate.
Mr. Serieaux has only been out of seclusion for a brief period. For the two weeks preceding the hearing date he had been compliant with medication and Dr. Komer was able to observe notable improvements. The Board acknowledges Ms. McKenzie’s point that, given Mr. Serieaux’s long history of problematic behaviour, two weeks is insufficient to demonstrate any commitment to adhering to treatment. However, this disposition is to be in force for the next clinical year. The Board is required to consider the least restrictive and least intrusive measures while ensuring the safety of the public.
Over the course of the next year Mr. Serieaux will have the opportunity to demonstrate that he can work with his clinical treatment team and continue to be compliant with treatment. If at some point, the hospital believes that Mr. Serieaux’s risk can be managed with escorted passes, generally meaning four staff and Mr. Serieaux, such that they could walk outside the perimeter of the hospital, then that privilege should be available. If, however, Mr. Serieaux reverts to his previous pattern of behaviour, that privilege will be subject to clinical discretion and there should be no expectations that that privilege will be offered, or seen as appropriate.
Accordingly, the Board orders that Mr. Serieaux be detained at Waypoint in the High Secure Provincial Forensic Programs Division with privileges up to and including the ability to access hospital grounds, beyond the secure perimeter escorted by staff.
DATED this 21st day of August 2025, at the City of Toronto, in the Region of Toronto.
Ms. C. Finley Alternate Chair
Office of the Registrar Ontario Review Board