Superior Court Justice Joan Barrett has ordered a not criminally responsible (NCR) assessment for an Etobicoke man who killed his parents and attempted to kill his brother.
One week after Barrett ruled that Alpha Henry fatally stabbed his parents Veronica and Colin Henry in their Rexdale apartment in September 2022, before trying to kill his younger brother Daniel, defence lawyer Jamie Kopman made an application for an NCR assessment.
Kopman told the court that “there was a significant amount of evidence to address the threshold of reasonable grounds that Mr. Henry suffered from a mental illness to make him NCR.”
Defence pointed to an officer who testified that he saw Alpha in the neighbourhood prior to the deadly attack and believed he was an emotionally disturbed person, the term police used to refer to someone suffering from mental health issues.
His brother Daniel also testified a few weeks prior to the attack, as he and his father were driving to and from church, they saw Alpha walking. Daniel testified they offered him a ride and Alpha seemed angry and began swearing at them. Daniel said he didn’t know why.
Kopman also said Alpha’s behaviour in hospital just after police arrived at the apartment and arrested him suggested he may have been suffering from a mental disorder. An officer wearing a body-worn camera captured him telling a nurse that his parents were his emergency contact, suggesting he believed they were still alive.
Later, he can be seen apparently hearing a voice in hospital, under the impression it is his father speaking.
Assistant Crown attorney Michael Wilson told Barrett the Crown was originally going to oppose the application for the NCR because the evidence suggests that Alpha was “very much aware of the nature of his acts, the wrongfulness of it and covered up what he had done.”
Wilson explained the Crown was consenting to the assessment because, after doing research, learned that the threshold for an NCR assessment is extremely low. “We were unable to find any level where evidence of a mental condition was denied. We don’t deny individuals a defence regardless of the charges,” said Wilson.
Wilson argued that Alpha immediately disposed of items, changed his clothes and cleaned up the apartment after the fatal stabbing in September 2022. He said Alpha then texted his brother posing as his mother to find out when Daniel was returning from his trip to Japan and when his plan to kill his brother failed, he immediately pivoted to placing the blame on him.
“All of this speaks to someone who has a very operating mind and understands the wrongfulness of his actions,” Wilson concluded.
The forensic psychiatrist who will assess Alpha Henry is not available until March. A date for an NCR hearing will be scheduled in April.