Thomas Hamp’s parents took the stand on Thursday. They provided the court with their perspective on the chain of events leading up to their son’s attack on Emily Sanche in February 2022.
Hamp’s parents told the court that they frequently texted Sanche in the months leading up to the fatal stabbing.
Both testified that Sanche was the sole point of contact for updates on their son’s progress.
Sanche informed them that their son had begun to lose trust in them and was unwilling to discuss his false memories or delusions.
“At that point, he didn’t trust us,” said Hamp’s father, Bryan Hamp. “He thought I had abused him and was having sex with animals.”
Sanche updated Bryan the day before the attack, informing him that his condition was at its worst. They made a plan to take him to the ER the next day.
Bryan then received a call from Sanche just moments before the attack and could hear his son yelling in the background. He said he seemed, “Very frantic.”
The call was disconnected, and when Bryan called 911, a neighbour who witnessed the aftermath of Hamp’s attack beat him to it.
Hamp’s parents were questioned about why they never intervened. Bryan said, based on Sanche’s intel, that it was best not to.
“We were concerned that he would alienate us altogether if we pressed too hard,” said Thomas Hamp’s mother, Sandra Hamp.
Bryan added that he and Sandra asked Sanche if she felt safe before the attack, and she replied, “Yes, I feel OK.”
Both parents acknowledged that they were aware of Sanche’s exhaustion in dealing with Thomas’s health and his non-compliance with prescribed medications, which went against doctor’s orders.
The Crown inquired of Bryan whether he had ever witnessed a psychotic episode when Hamp consumed cannabis. He said no.
Thomas testified on Wednesday that he used cannabis two to six times a day on average, reaching a point where Sanche asked him to stop, which he did.
The court plans to reconvene in December as more time is required to assess letters intercepted from Hamp to his family, written while he was incarcerated.
Hamp’s defence lawyer, Brian Pfefferle, says some of those letters were only discovered as recently as last week.
“When the Hamp family became aware of these letters being relevant, they turned them over to the police,” said Brian Pfefferle. “They want to come to a conclusion that’s based on the truth.”
Hamp wrote in the letters his cannabis use could have contributed to his psychotic break.