Ontario Review Board
Re: Derek Williams
ORB File No. 8949
Hearing Date: March 6, 2026
Hearing Location: St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, West 5th Campus
Pursuant to: Section 672.47(1) Criminal Code of Canada
Before:
Alternate Chairperson: Mr. K. McKenna
Members: Dr. K. Hand
Dr. T. Stirpe
Ms. M. McKinnon
Parties Appearing:
Accused: Derek Williams
Counsel: Mr. S. Buchanan
The Person in charge of Hospital: Counsel: Ms. L. Barney
Attorney General of Ontario: Counsel: Ms. C. Gzik
REASONS FOR DISPOSITION
(Dated April 13, 2026)
Introduction
Mr. Williams was found not criminally responsible (NCR) on January 21, 2026, for the Criminal Code offence of aggravated assault.
A panel of the Ontario Review Board (the panel) convened this initial hearing on March 6, 2026, at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, West 5th Campus, (St. Joseph’s or the Hospital) to make a Disposition pursuant to s. 672.47(1) of the Criminal Code of Canada. Ms. Christy Williams, Mr. Willaims’ mother, and his fiancé, Ms. Beth Rothwell and her two children attended the hearing.
At the commencement of the hearing, the Hospital recommended a detention order with privileges that extended to living in the community within the catchment area of the Hospital in accommodation approved by the person in charge.
Crown Counsel and counsel for Mr. Williams supported the recommendation of the Hospital.
After considering the evidence, the panel concluded that Mr. Williams was a significant threat to the safety of the public, and that a detention order with the terms suggested by the Hospital was appropriate.
Index Offence
- The following is a synopsis of the facts pertaining to the index offence as provided in the Hospital Report.
On August 4, 2025, the accused, Derek WILLIAMS was apprehended under Section 17 of the Mental Health Act, as he was found to be suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and had a plan to commit suicide.
On August 6, 2025, the accused, Derek WILLIAMS was reported to be having a mental health crisis, making threats to “open a vein.” Derek spoke with a member of the Mental Health and Addictions Response Team, and was not apprehended.
On Friday August 8, 2025, the accused, Derek WILLIAMS, and his 5-year-old son, Jessie WILLIAMS, attended the residence of Derek’s mother, Christy WILLIAMS, and step-father, Ralph POUPARD, at G[…] Road, Lincoln.
On Friday August 8, 2025, at approximately 11:09 pm, the accused, Derek WILLIAMS called 9-1-1 and stated that he believes he killed someone. During the recorded 9-1-1 conversation, Derek indicated that he slaughtered his mother’s husband, Ralph POUPARD, with a machete. At 11:15 pm, police arrived on scene at G[…] Road, Lincoln. Police observed that Derek’s clothing was blood stained and he was in possession of a machete. On August 8, 2025, at 11:15 pm, the accused, Derek WILLIAMS was arrested for Aggravated Assault.
Police entered the residence at G[…] Road, Lincoln and located the victim, Ralph POUPARD, suffering from significant injuries. Ralph POUPARD was situated on the floor, in a large pool of blood. Police observed lacerations to the victim’s head, arms, hands and knee-caps. The victim’s arms, face and legs were maimed and disfigured during this assault.
The victim, Ralph POUPARD, stated that he was sleeping in a recliner, when he was awoken by the accused, Derek WILLIAMS, slashing him with a machete.
The victim, Ralph POUPARD was transported to Hamilton General Hospital where he was assessed to have serious, but non-life-threatening injuries and would require multiple surgeries. Emergency Physicians indicated that Ralph POUPARD was likely to lose one or multiple limbs due to his injuries.
As a result, the accused has been charged with Aggravated Assault, contrary to Section 268 of the Criminal Code.
The accused was read his right to counsel and caution, to which he indicated he understood, but declined counsel.
The accused was transported to 2-District cells and held pending a bail hearing
Evidence
The panel received the various court documents related to the NCR finding, as well as, the St. Joseph’s Assessment Report dated January 8, 2026, and the Hospital Report dated March 2, 2026. Dr. Tan testified at these proceedings. The Hospital Report was prepared for this hearing and provides a detailed review of Mr. Williams’ personal and mental health history.
Mr. Williams is the eldest in a sib line of two born to Ms. Christy Williams and Mr. Wayne Roberts. He has not had any contact with his father from a very young age. He also has three half siblings from his mother’s second marriage.
When Mr. Williams was seven years of age, Ms. Williams married a man named Kevin. He was an alcoholic, unemployed, and was unkind to Mr. Williams. Ms. Williams separated from Kevin when Mr. Williams was fourteen years of age.
Mr. Williams and his mother report that he began experiencing mental health issues at fourteen years of age. He experienced paranoia and hearing voices. Ms. Williams reported that he would sit up at night with a weapon concerned that something bad was going to happen to the family. He believed that someone was after him. He was hospitalized and assessed soon after the symptoms began. Health records indicate that Mr. Williams was hospitalized frequently during his mid-teens, and he was unable to return to his academic studies or maintain regular employment.
In his late 20s he entered a long-term relationship with a woman named Cristie. They have a son together who is now six years of age. The relationship ended in December 2024 as a result of his declining mental health. They have maintained a civil relationship and a regular co-parenting schedule for the benefit of their son, with Mr. Williams responsible for the care of his son 40% of the time.
Mr. Williams reported that he had been living with his grandmother since early 2025 after he was hospitalized in December 2024. His mental health was good, he stated, until it began to decline in May 2025. He reported that in the last year he has not been compliant with medication, often missing about three doses per week. In the last several months he has been experiencing poor sleep and increased psychotic symptoms, including auditory and visual hallucinations, and paranoia.
He has been involved with his current partner, Ms. Beth Rothwell, since January 2025, and he describes this relationship as very positive. They have since become engaged.
Mr. Williams reports that he experienced verbal, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse from his stepfather from his mother’s second marriage.
Mr. Williams indicated that he did not enjoy school and obtained average grades. He attended Great Lakes Christian High School in grade 9. He did not feel like he fit in and was bullied by other students. He transferred to Smithville High School for a short period of time, and then attended Beamsville High School in grade 10. He did not regularly attend his classes and eventually quit school with declining mental health and hospitalizations. Ms. Williams advised that her son began having difficulty in school in grade 9 with the onset of paranoia.
Mr. Williams has been employed in various labour positions over the years. He was unable to maintain any long-term employment with his mental health issues and frequent hospitalizations. He was most recently employed as an archaeological field technician from May 2025 until the time of his arrest.
Mr. Williams reported that he began using cannabis in grade 8. By grade 9, he was smoking daily and often skipping classes to smoke cannabis. He stopped his use of cannabis for a period of time and then restarted in early 2025. He went through a period of time when he was consuming large amounts of alcohol, but reports that he last consumed alcohol in 2024. He has also experimented over the years with cocaine, amphetamines (speed,) psilocybin and prescription opiates. He has never participated in addictions counselling.
Mr. Williams has been admitted to hospital for psychiatric care on approximately 16 occasions since 2004. His mother often took Mr. Williams to the Emergency Department after observing strange, paranoid behaviour. She observed that her son was depressed and hearing voices. He also expressed very often over the years suicidal ideation and the plans he had devised for his suicide. Mr. Williams reports that in 2004 he was sleeping with a hatchet under his pillow for protection.
There was a period of time when Mr. Williams believed he was being followed by demons, and he became interested in devil worshipping.
The auditory hallucinations increased in intensity and became command hallucinations that urged him to kill people. On occasion these command hallucinations directed him to kill his mother.
The depression and hallucinations together with paranoia and suicidal ideation have been persistent since 2004. He has not been consistently compliant with his medication regimen which has made his hallucinations and delusions more intense. Mr. Williams has been prescribed Clozapine since at least 2006.
Psychiatric follow-up in the community was provided for Mr. Williams since 2006. Dr. Santher from 2006 to 2015, and then Dr. Rutherford until 2019. Dr. Rutherford was situated at West Niagara Mental Health, and their records from 2016 refer to Mr. Williams stating that he was experiencing visual abnormalities and paranoia. He was seeing demonic faces and patterns and was suspicious of others. He was receiving messages from the television and his mind and body were being controlled by others. Mr. Williams also endorsed feeling distressed and expressing suicidal ideation. These symptoms continued despite taking medication.
Mr. Williams was seen in consultation by a psychiatrist, Dr. Catherine Krasnik, at the Mental Health Outpatient Clinic at Niagara Health System in January 2021. He reported increased auditory and visual hallucinations. The auditory hallucinations were command in nature, and directing him to hurt himself or his mother. Passive suicidal ideation was also present.
A Psychological Assessment was conducted at St. Joseph’s, and confirmed the presence of widespread paranoia and persecutory delusions. Regarding the index offence, Mr. Williams believed that the victim was evil and entered the world through the rift. The victim had the ability to hypnotize people and control their minds. Once hypnotized, these people would follow the victim’s directions. Mr. Williams believed it was his responsibility to rid the world of this evil.
Mr. Williams was admitted to St. Joseph’s on November 12, 2025. He acknowledged some feelings of hopelessness and passive suicidal ideation, and stated that he “lost perspective” when he attempted to strangle himself two weeks ago.
He expressed paranoia regarding his stepfather trying to harm his family, as well as, paranoia regarding other inmates at the detention centre trying to steal his identity.
Mr. Williams was observed to be particularly vulnerable to stress, which was associated with worsening psychotic symptoms, such as hallucinations, paranoia, and suicidal ideation. The Hospital observed that as the initial return to court date of December 11, 2025 approached, Mr. Williams more frequently described intense suicidal ideation, and when informed of the court date extension, there was a corresponding decrease in suicidal ideation.
His ability to cope with the auditory hallucinations fluctuated. At times he would use phone calls or music to distract his mind from the hallucinations, and at other times, he was visibly distressed and tearful requiring intensive staff support. The auditory hallucinations related to thoughts of co-patients plotting against him, or his fiancé being unfaithful, or that he had to die to save the world. His ongoing suicidal ideation shifted from passive to active occasionally. A safety plan was developed by the staff to closely monitor his behaviour. The plan also restricted the amount of clothing he had available at any given point in time. On December 2, 2025, during a bedroom safety sweep, a nurse found a towel torn into a long strip to make a ligature hidden behind the toilet. Mr. Williams admitted to making this ligature and to writing a suicide note, but denied a plan to act on it. There was a similar occurrence on February 13, 2026. A nurse found Mr. Williams sitting on the toilet with a towel fastened as a ligature around his neck. When the nurse approached, Mr. Williams removed the towel and stated, “I can’t do this anymore”, and reported that the voices were ongoing and speaking about his child being raped. He was initially placed in a padded room and then 1:1 constant monitoring for several days.
Throughout his admission, Mr. Williams has remained cooperative with all interventions and engaged in his treatment plan. He has remained adherent to his medications without issue. He has regularly enjoyed visits from family and friends.
Testimony Dr. Tan
Dr. Tan testified at this hearing. He is currently a resident working under the supervision of Dr. Courtright, and has been working with Mr. Williams since his admission to St. Joseph’s November 12, 2025.
Dr. Tan stated that overall Mr. Williams is doing better. There has been a better optimization of the medication, and Mr. Williams has not needed as much PRN medication. Mr. Williams has not reported any psychotic symptoms in the past few days, and his suicidal ideation has improved.
Dr. Tan indicated that Mr. Williams has acknowledged that he has a chronic illness and requires medication daily. He is also aware of the negative impact substance use has had on his mental health.
Looking forward, Dr. Tan testified that medication needs to be optimized and Mr. Williams needs to participate in therapeutic programming before he would consider community living. Dr. Tan identified the tremendous family support provided to Mr. Williams.
In answer to questions from Crown Counsel, Dr. Tan acknowledged that there are therapeutic programs available for families. He also advised that Mr. Williams is currently on the assessment unit, and that he does not know when Mr. Williams will be moved to another unit.
Counsel for Mr. Williams asked Dr. Tan how long before the medication is optimized. Dr. Tan couldn’t provide a specific timeline. Dr. Tan stated that the Clozapine dose was increased and serum level is now therapeutic. Another antipsychotic, haloperidol, was recently added to his current medications. Dr. Tan acknowledged that Mr. Williams will likely have to move from the assessment unit to the rehabilitation unit before he can access programming such as Healing and Forgiveness. Dr. Tan also expressed his opinion that Mr. Williams may be ready for community living toward the end of this reporting year.
Submissions
The Hospital submitted that the appropriate Disposition is a detention order with community living. Mr. Williams is making progress, and importantly, has been compliant with his antipsychotic medication. The Hospital also referred to the benefits of having strong family support. At the present time, however, Mr. Williams is a significant threat to the safety of the public.
Crown Counsel and counsel for Mr. Williams indicated their support of the Hospital’s recommendations.
Analysis
After considering the evidence, the panel agrees with the position of counsel. Mr. Williams is a significant threat to the safety of the public, and a detention order with the terms and conditions recommended by the Hospital is necessary and appropriate.
Mr. Williams has been experiencing auditory and visual hallucinations, delusions, paranoia, and suicidal ideation since on or about 2004. Over the years, these symptoms have been persistent and have not diminished in their intensity. As recently as three weeks ago, Mr. Williams was found sitting on the toilet with a ligature tied around his neck. He was emotionally distraught, and referred to “not being able to take the voices anymore.”
The index offence was a vicious assault of Mr. Poupard with a machete. This assault was driven by a paranoid belief that Mr. Poupard was an evil person who needed to be stopped by Mr. Williams.
The paranoia continues. Inherent to Mr. Williams’ paranoia is the belief that others are presenting a danger to his life and the lives of his family, and that he must eradicate this danger. This may, of course, involve the use of violence.
The auditory hallucinations are often command in nature. Mr. Williams has been directed by these voices to harm himself and others, including his mother. Often, he is able to dismiss these voices using certain distractions, but at times, Mr. Williams finds these voices very distressing and difficult to manage.
Mr. Williams appears to be making some progress at this early stage of his treatment. As Dr. Tan stated in his evidence, the medication needs to be optimized, and Mr. Williams needs to engage in therapeutic programming before community living would be considered.
It is also apparent from the evidence, that if Mr. Williams is discharged to the community at some time during this upcoming year, the Hospital would need the ability to approve his housing, and the ability to return Mr. Williams to the Hospital very quickly if there was a decline in his condition and a risk to public safety.
A detention order with the terms and conditions recommended by the Hospital and supported by counsel is necessary appropriate.
Dated this 13th day of April 2026, at the City of Toronto, in the Toronto Region.
Kevin McKenna
Alternate Chair
Office of the Registrar
Ontario Review Board