In Toronto, a specialized mental health court ordered that Sabrina Kauldhar be sent for observation in early January for a day at CAMH, because an initial psychiatric report was deemed inconclusive. The 30-year-old woman is accused of killing three people in three days in three different locations in early October.
Friday afternoon's hearing heard that a report concluded that Sabrina Kauldhar is incompetent to stand trial. However, this report from November 26 shows that she did not participate in the interview with the psychiatrist, a week earlier, in her cell.
According to the Crown, the psychiatrist wrote that his diagnosis was therefore not detailed enough to conclude that he was unfit.
Sabrina Kauldhar remained standing throughout her appearance by videoconference from the prison of Milton, Friday. She was wearing a green prison outfit. An agent filmed her through the hatch in the door through which meals are passed to inmates.
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From left to right: Day-to-Day Prosecutor William Deck, Justice of the Peace Veenboek and Sabrina Kauldhar, on screen, from Vanier Prison.
Photo : - / Pam Davies
The defendant tied her long braid of hair which she subsequently concealed under a green cloth.
She occasionally stared at the camera, but turned her back during the final minutes of the hearing. He didn't say a single word.
Murders in three locations
Kauldhar is accused of the premeditated murder of a 77-year-old man in Hamilton which she would have targeted at random according to the police.
She also faces two charges of unpremeditated murder in connection with the deaths of a 66-year-old woman in Toronto and a 47-year-old man in Niagara Falls.
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Lance Cunningham (left), 47, was killed in Niagara Falls. It was in Hamilton that Mario Bilich, 77, died.
Photo: Niagara Regional Police
The victims are Trinh Thi Vu, of Toronto; Lance Cunningham, Niagara Falls; and Mario Bilich, of Hamilton. Investigators have already confirmed that all three victims were stabbed.
The wife of Mr. CunnnghamKim Cunninghamwas present during Friday's online hearing.
Kauldhar had been apprehended in a motel in Burlington on October 3, the day the last person associated with him died.
Temporary internment considered
The Crown prosecutor in charge of current affairs requested that the accused be sent to CHAM for more in-depth examinations.
She first wanted Kauldhar to be hospitalized at CHAM for a month, no later than February 20, to have an exhaustive account of the woman's mental state, but the magistrate preferred a 24-hour stay, from January 8, to begin, because the time pressed.
The judge asked to see the Crown and defense again the following week for an update on the case.
In the event that the woman again refuses to participate in her psychiatric evaluation, it is planned to intern her in CHAM for a month to analyze his behavior and pronounce the appropriate diagnosis.
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Before her arrest, Sabrina Kauldhar rented this apartment with Trinh Thi Vu in the basement of a house in Toronto near the intersection of Keele and Dundas Streets in Toronto.
Photo : CBC
Lawyer Sherif Foda nevertheless asserts that the November 26 report already contains enough information to say that his client is indeed unfit to stand trial.
The psychiatrist's conclusions are unequivocal
he said, questioning the relevance of sending his client to undergo further examinations.
Ms. Foda is concerned about further delays under the Jordan decision and thinks it is time to send her client to the Ontario Review Board after the court confirmed that she is indeed incompetent to stand trial .
The Crown also assured the judge Edward Kellyof the Ontario Court of Justice, that a prosecutor had been assigned to this case, but that Michael Cantlon was not available to attend the hearing.
Kauldhar is due back in court next week, but this time at St. Catharineson December 30, and at Hamiltonon December 31, for the charges that were filed in these two territorial jurisdictions.