Man who fatally stabbed wife found not criminally responsible

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This article was published 18/10/2017 (2969 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A man with mental illness who stabbed his wife to death shortly after immigrating to Canada in 2012 has been found not criminally responsible.

Teklu Mebrahtu was suffering a mental disorder in January 2012 when he stabbed his wife Alche Kidane, 34, and did not believe that what he had done was morally wrong, said Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Shawn Greenberg.

The couple from Eritrea had lived in Canada for just five months when Mebrahtu stabbed his wife 12 times, left her in the bathtub of their downtown Winnipeg apartment suite, and phoned 911 to report he’d killed her. Mebrahtu was charged with second-degree murder.

In summarizing her decision Wednesday, Greenberg said the defence conceded that Mebrahtu caused his wife’s death and the Crown conceded he was suffering from a mental disorder. “The only contentious issue was whether he knew it was morally wrong.” Greenberg said she was convinced that Mebrahtu — who the Crown conceded was suffering psychosis and paranoid delusions at the time — believed that his actions were morally justified.

Defence lawyer Wendy Martin White had argued Mebrahtu’s delusions — particularly his belief his wife was trying to poison him — led him to kill her.

“He felt he was morally justified in doing what he had done,” his lawyer told the court during his trial.

An interpreter was in court Wednesday morning explaining the judge’s decision to Mebrahtu, who was shackled and led into court by two sheriff’s officers. Mebrahtu remains in custody and has been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Court heard earlier that he spent four months in the psychiatric ward at Health Sciences Centre while in custody and received electric-shock treatment to bring him out of a reported catatonic state. The judge granted the Crown prosecutor’s request for a DNA order on Mebrahtu.