Court File and Parties

Court File No.: CR-16-2598 Ontario Superior Court of Justice

Her Majesty the Queen

v.

John Lai

Before: The Honourable Justice M. Fuerst On: Wednesday, May 10, 2017, at Peterborough, Ontario

Appearances: L. Wannamaker, Counsel for the Crown D. Kirby, Counsel for John Lai S. Lyon, Counsel for John Lai

Reasons for Judgment

WEDNESDAY, May 10, 2017 R E A S O N S F O R J U D G M E N T FUERST, J. (Orally):

Introduction

Cindy Torbar lost her life in a brutal stabbing committed by John Lai. Mr. Lai pleaded not guilty to a charge of second degree murder.

Crown counsel raises the issue of not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder. Defence counsel agree that Mr. Lai should be found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder.

The Events of March 18, 2016

The relevant facts underlying the charge were put before me by way of an Agreed Statement of Facts.

In March 2016, John Lai was a 25 year old student in his first year of studies at Trent University in Peterborough. He lived on campus during the first university semester. In February 2016, he moved to a house in Peterborough where he rented a room.

Cindy Torbar was the 52 year old daughter of the owner of the house. Ms. Torbar lived in the downstairs portion of the house, and acted as the landlady for the tenants who rented the rooms upstairs.

Mr. Lai’s family noted, in the months preceding March 2016, that he was acting in an odd manner. He spent a great deal of time alone, was occasionally seen talking to himself, did not sleep well, sometimes asked to sleep closer to family members, and was fixated on going to the gym and eating in a highly regulated way. He seemed pre-occupied and distressed.

On March 12, 2016, Mr. Lai went to Toronto and stayed with one of his sisters for several days. She noticed that he was not sleeping well, and was talking to himself and laughing. He made delusional comments. He referred to himself as the Newborn King. One evening, he broke the television. He said that there had been demons in it. Another night, he put his hand through the drywall in the bathroom, and said that he had seen demons. He went out for dinner with his sister and told her that the restaurant was opened just for him as he was the Newborn King and had been chosen. His sister was concerned about his mental health. She tried to persuade him to get help, but he refused.

On March 18, Mr. Lai’s sister awoke to find him in her room with his hands around her neck. He was yelling and screaming. His eyes were rolling. He said, “There is a demon in you and I have to get it out.” She managed to calm him down and get him off of her. She wanted him to go to the hospital, but he refused. When she tried to call her mother for help, Mr. Lai left the house wearing only shorts and a sweatshirt. His sister reported him missing to Toronto Police. They in turn contacted Peterborough Police.

Peterborough Police officers went to Mr. Lai’s Peterborough address around 8:00 p.m. Mr. Lai arrived while the officers were there. He told the police that he was not aware that people were looking for him. He denied that he was hearing voices or that he needed medical assistance. He was calm and co-operative, although he appeared tired. He called one of his sisters to confirm to her that he was fine. The police left the residence.

Hours later, a female tenant observed Mr. Lai acting in a bizarre manner. He left the residence without a coat. He was yelling “free free” and “love peace unity”, and gesturing to the sky. The female tenant walked and ran with Mr. Lai for about half an hour, until he said that he was going home. Once back at the house, the female tenant went into her own room.

The next thing the female tenant heard was Ms. Torbar yelling for help and for her to call the police. Mr. Lai was shouting “I’m Jesus Christ” and “I must kill the demons.” The female tenant called 911 as Ms. Torbar yelled in the background. The tenant heard Ms. Torbar yell, “Stop you’re killing me, you’re hurting me.”

Three Peterborough Police officers arrived at the house minutes later. The first officer through the door saw Mr. Lai at the top of the stairs in a bedroom doorway, holding a 10 inch butcher knife covered in blood. Mr. Lai was standing over Ms. Torbar’s lifeless body. He looked at the officer and said something about demons. The officer yelled at him to drop the knife several times, but Mr. Lai did not comply. He repeated something about demons. The officer pulled out his firearm and pointed it at Mr. Lai. Mr. Lai hid behind the bedroom wall. The officer went up the stairs, continuing to yell at Mr. Lai to drop the knife. Mr. Lai came out from behind the bedroom wall and lunged at the body of Ms. Torbar, stabbing into her back. The officer shot Mr. Lai, causing him to fall and drop the knife.

Mr. Lai was handcuffed and restrained. He continued to talk about demons. En route to the hospital, he said to a police officer, “Believe in me, do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ?”

Ms. Torbar was pronounced dead at the scene. Post mortem examination revealed that she suffered at least 127 stab wounds to her head, neck, torso, and right and left upper extremities, some of them occurring after death. Cause of death was multiple stab wounds to the chest.

A sample of Mr. Lai’s blood taken at hospital indicated that he had no detectable levels of drugs or alcohol in his system.

Mr. Lai remained in hospital for several weeks. While there, he continued to talk about aliens and angels. He told one of his sisters that on the night of the stabbing, he saw trillions of demons in the house and was really scared. Voices in his head told him to remain in the house and finish the demon that night. He told his sister that he called the police to the residence through telepathy.

Victim Impact Information

Victim Impact Statements were provided by three family members, and a friend of Ms. Torbar. They expressed the many ways in which their lives were shattered by her loss, the nightmares they have about the manner of her death, and their emotional struggles to move forward.

Psychiatric Assessment

Mr. Lai was assessed by Dr. Scott Woodside in the summer of 2016. Dr. Woodside is an experienced forensic psychiatrist and a Staff Psychiatrist with the Complex Mental Illness Program – Forensic Services at the Centre for Addiction & Mental Health in Toronto. He is also a member of the Ontario Review Board.

Dr. Woodside was called to testify by Crown counsel. On consent of the defence, he was qualified as an expert in general and forensic psychiatry, and testified as an expert witness.

Dr. Woodside met with Mr. Lai on two occasions for a total of four and a half hours. He reviewed the Crown disclosure, a psychological report prepared at his request by Dr. Ainslie Heasman, and a collateral information report prepared at his request by a social worker.

Mr. Lai told Dr. Woodside that he sensed there was something wrong with his landlady, and that the angels told him the demons were present. When he stabbed Ms. Torbar, he believed that an angel told him that Ms. Torbar was possessed by a demon. He was trying to kill the demon inside Ms. Torbar’s body, which the angel told him would otherwise harm him. He did not intend to harm Ms. Torbar. He believed that if he killed the demon, it would free Ms. Torbar’s soul. As he stabbed the demon, it told him he would die. He contacted the police through his mind to come and help him kill the demon. The ammunition the police used disappeared into the air, because God was protecting him because he was doing something good.

At the time of the assessment, Mr. Lai was taking respiridone, an anti-psychotic medication. Nonetheless, he remained psychotic. He told Dr. Woodside that he continued to hear voices of extraterrestrials and occasionally, that of God, but the voices did not make commands that he hurt himself or others. He said that the demon in his landlady was the last demon he had to cast out.

Dr. Woodside diagnosed Mr. Lai as suffering from schizophrenia, and also a polysubstance use disorder, currently in remission, relating to use of alcohol, amphetamines, cocaine, and cannabis. He found that Mr. Lai experienced symptoms of psychosis, including auditory hallucinations and a variety of delusions involving angels and demons, for at least a week before the stabbing, during the stabbing, and continuing afterward while he was in custody. Collateral information from family members indicated that he may have experienced less obvious symptoms of his illness in the few months leading up to the stabbing. Dr. Woodside found, including on the basis of psychological testing, that Mr. Lai was not malingering, and that his psychotic symptoms at the relevant time could not be attributed to substance use.

Dr. Woodside concluded that, based on his self-report, family observations, and utterances heard by witnesses, at the time of the stabbing Mr. Lai suffered from schizophrenia, which is a lifelong major mental illness and a mental disorder. He had psychotic symptoms, including auditory and visual hallucinations and religious, grandiose, and paranoid delusions about being in contact with angels who tasked him with casting out demons from this world. Psychotic symptoms were present for months after the stabbing, in keeping with the psychotic beliefs that drove Mr. Lai’s behavior at the material time.

In Dr. Woodside’s opinion, Mr. Lai meets the criteria for not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder under both prongs of s.16 of the Criminal Code. Mr. Lai’s psychotic symptoms likely rendered him incapable of appreciating the nature and quality of his actions. He appeared capable of appreciating that stabbing the victim with a knife might injure or kill the victim, but he believed that he was driving out or killing a demon rather than a human being. This reflects a likely inability to appreciate the nature and quality of his actions.

In addition, the severity of his delusions and hallucinations was likely such that he was incapable of knowing that his actions were wrongful, either legally or morally. He was experiencing auditory command hallucinations from angels telling him to kill the victim to save himself, her soul, and the earth. He believed that the police were there to assist him in casting out the demon, and that God made the first bullets fired at him disappear. Due to the disorganizing effects of his symptoms and illness, he would not have been capable of rationally considering whether his actions were wrongful in any manner, or of even turning his mind to consider whether others in the community would consider his actions wrongful, either legally or morally.

Dr. Woodside’s opinion is that Mr. Lai represents a significant threat to the community. He recommends that if Mr. Lai is released to the community, he be subject to psychiatric follow-up in perpetuity, and that he be treated with anti-psychotic medication in perpetuity. Mr. Lai should avoid the use of alcohol and/or street drugs in perpetuity. He may benefit from accessing rehabilitative programming at a psychiatric centre.

The Positions of the Parties

Crown and defence counsel jointly submit that I should accept the opinion of Dr. Woodside, and find Mr. Lai not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder.

Conclusion

Ms. Torbar was a truly innocent victim of Mr. Lai’s violence. She was attacked without warning, and killed in a vicious and disturbing manner. It is an unfortunate reality that nothing I say today can restore her to those who love her. I expect that the knowledge that her life was taken by an individual suffering from a major mental illness is of little or no comfort to her family members and friends. I do not overlook the pain that those close to her have suffered, and are continuing to suffer because of her death.

However, the opinion of Dr. Woodside, expressed in his testimony and in his careful and detailed report, is uncontradicted. It is relied on by both Crown and defence counsel. It is congruent with witness accounts of the material events, set out in the Agreed Statement of Facts. It is supported by collateral information, and the results of psychological testing. I accept Dr. Woodside’s opinion.

I find that the requirements of s. 16 of the Criminal Code are satisfied on a balance of probabilities. I find that Mr. Lai stabbed Ms. Torbar to death while suffering from a mental disorder that rendered him incapable of appreciating the nature and quality of his act. I am also satisfied that he committed that act while suffering from a mental disorder that rendered him incapable of knowing that it was morally wrong.

I find Mr. Lai not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder.

In accordance with the recommendation of Dr. Woodside, I decline to hold a disposition hearing. I make no disposition. I refer the matter to the Ontario Review Board for determination. I request that the Board give careful consideration to the recommendations made by Dr. Woodside.

MS. WANNAMAKER: Thank you, Your Honour.

THE COURT: So what remains is for me to endorse the indictment, and for us to do the warrant so that it is worded in such a way as to comport with Ms. Wannamaker’s indication earlier today.

COURT REGISTRAR: Correct, Your Honour. I have that ready for you.

THE COURT: Thank you. Is there anything else that needs to be done?

MS. WANNAMAKER: You’ll simply see, Your Honour, as I had briefly alluded to at the outset, with respect to that warrant of committal, there was a request that, I think largely on behalf of Mr. Lai, that he be considered for CAMH. That may be because Dr. Woodside is there, but moreover because his family and supports are there. Dr. Woodside, as you’ve heard, had indicated there was no difficulty with Mr. Lai being held at a medium security facility given his compliance at Central East, and his assessment of Mr. Lai, so that would not be any impediment, and as I’ve said, there’s no bed available now, but the wording we put is that Your Honour would recommend that he be considered for transfer there if a bed becomes available, and I’ll certainly indicate, with Your Honour’s permission, to the Review Board or to Ontario Shores that that consideration be put before the Review Board at disposition hearing should that become available at CAMH.

THE COURT: So the way in which the warrant is worded is that he is to be transported to Ontario Shores, Whitby, Ontario on the 11th of May, 2017, and recommendation that he later be transferred to CAMH if possible .....

MS. WANNAMAKER: Yes, that was my wording if Your Honour is content with that and making that recommendation, and that you’re content with him being held at CECC. I think that they’re just left with that not being a possibility of transfer today, but they’re making all arrangements to accommodate him tomorrow.

THE COURT: I’m sure Mr. Kirby will follow up to make sure it happens tomorrow.

MR. KIRBY: Absolutely, thank you.

THE COURT: Now I’m aware that the transcript of the proceedings and of my decision will be needed by the Review Board, but I am making the assumption that the Review Board will order that transcript in due course, and that I need not order it.

MS. WANNAMAKER: I think that’s fair, Your Honour. I’ll certainly communicate with Ontario Shores, and if they need me to order it, I’ll do so before the disposition hearing.

THE COURT: So I’ve signed the warrant of committal worded as indicated, and I’ve endorsed on the indictment, “Mr. Lai is found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder. He is returned to Central East Correctional Centre today, but is to be transported to Ontario Shores, Whitby tomorrow, May 11th, 2017. I recommend that he later be transferred to CAMH Toronto.”

MR. KIRBY: Thank you, Your Honour.

MS. WANNAMAKER: Thank you.

THE COURT: I’d like to thank all counsel for the work they’ve put into this matter. I know it was a difficult matter in many respects, and I would just like to say that I appreciate all that both Crown and defence counsel did to bring matters to this point, so thank you.

MR. KIRBY: Thank you.

THE COURT: Thank you to the staff for your help today.

... WHEREUPON THESE PROCEEDINGS WERE CONCLUDED.