Latest news with #EmilySanche
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Yahoo
Judge finds Thomas Hamp not criminally responsible in 2022 stabbing death of Emily Sanche
A Saskatoon judge ruled Thursday that Thomas Hamp was in the throes of a psychotic break when he fatally stabbed his partner Emily Sanche in 2022 and is not criminally responsible for his actions. Justice Grant Currie said he accepted forensic psychiatrist Shabehram Lohrasbe's opinion on Hamp's mental state at the time of the stabbing. "This leads me to the conclusion that, when he stabbed and killed Emily, Thomas likely was operating under a mental disorder that rendered him incapable of knowing that doing so was wrong," Currie wrote in his 22-page decision at Court of King's Bench. Hamp's judge-alone trial on the charge of second-degree murder began in September 2024. From the start, the defence never disputed that Hamp stabbed Sanche. "This isn't going to be a whodunit," lawyer Brian Pfefferle said on the first day of the trial. "There is a mental element that will be an issue." Prosecutor Cory Bliss did not disagree that there was a mental element at play. But instead of accepting that the then-25-year-old was suffering from "schizophrenic spectrum disorder," he suggested that Hamp's heavy use of cannabis to self-medicate his symptoms for obsessive compulsive disorder led to him killing Sanche. This would mean Hamp was criminally responsible for what happened. Bliss read an agreed statement of facts into the record at the start of the trial. "In the early morning hours of Feb. 20, 2022, Thomas retrieved a kitchen knife from the set of knives found within the suite," Bliss said. "He stabbed Emily in the upper left chest with that knife. In doing so the blade broke and remained lodged in Emily's body." She died later in hospital. Hamp had originally been charged with aggravated assault. According to the statement, Hamp originally told a neighbour and police that a man had broken into the third-floor apartment and attacked the couple. He recanted that later, saying that he stabbed Sanche and then himself. The paper trail Sanche was aware of Hamp's deteriorating mental condition and kept careful notes about her efforts to get help. These notes proved critical to the psychiatric assessment by Shabehram Lohrasbe, the forensic psychiatrist retained by defence. Lohrasbe testified that he met with Hamp twice in person and then again by video, for a total of five hours. He also interviewed Hamp's parents and reviewed reports from his clinical treatment for obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Lohrasbe also reviewed detailed notes and text messages written by Sanche, who was studying for a master's degree in counselling and expressed concerns about her partner's deteriorating mental health in the year before he killed her. Lohrasbe also reviewed notes take by Sanche's cousin. The notes included observations Sanche made hours before her death, after the couple contacted the Saskatoon Crisis Intervention Service. Hamp was supposed to go to the hospital that day. Lohrasbe said he's done thousands of assessments over his four-decade career and that the written records from the two young women "are incredibly important documents." He said Sanche's text message chain "is poignant, and so close to the offence." "I've never seen anything like it." In his analysis, Lohrasbe said Hamp's worsening OCD symptoms and heavy cannabis use almost surely played a role in the psychotic episode, but "their precise potential roles cannot be delineated." Next step: the Saskatchewan Review Board The decision by Justice Currie ends Hamp's journey through the criminal justice system. Pfefferle said the next step is for his case to go before the Saskatchewan Review Board. It decides what happens to individuals the court finds not criminally responsible. "It isn't about punishment at all," he said. "It's singularly focused on trying to determine whether a person is safe to be released into the community. And once they're determined to be safe, and conditions are formulated, then the person can be released." In a written statement, Hamp's parents Bryan and Sandi thanked the judge for the finding. "We, like everyone who knew and loved Emily Sanche will forever grieve her death," they wrote. "Emily was a beautiful, honest, smart and caring person. We are grateful for Emily's love for our son and the dedication she showed him." Bliss said he would be consulting with his colleagues at Public Prosecutions on whether the decision would be appealed.
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Yahoo
Man who fatally stabbed his partner found not criminally responsible for his actions
Thomas Hamp was charged with second-degree murder after killing his partner Emily Sanche. On Thursday, a Saskatoon judge ruled that Hamp had a mental disorder that left him incapable of knowing that what he was doing was wrong.
CTV News
03-07-2025
- CTV News
Saskatoon man not criminally responsible for killing partner, judge rules
A Court of King's Bench judge has ruled a Saskatoon man was not criminally responsible for the death of his partner. Justice Grant Currie took less than a few minutes to read his brief decision to the courtroom Thursday, saying 'it is more likely than not' Thomas Hamp was suffering from a mental disorder when he stabbed and killed his partner Emily Sanche in their shared apartment on Feb. 20, 2022. Currie said the mental disorder Hamp was suffering from 'rendered him incapable of knowing that it was wrong.' 'I was sweating like any other person who's involved in the case,' defence attorney Brian Pfefferle said. 'You never know what will happen until the verdict is read, but I was hopeful that this would occur and it's an expected verdict from our position.' 'I won't speak for the family,' Crown prosecutor Cory Bliss said following the decision. 'I know this has been very hard on them. They lost a daughter and a loved one and a sister. They're still feeling a lot of pain and just a lot of anger towards what happened.' Hamp admitted he fatally stabbed Sanche at trial. The question wasn't whether or not he committed the act, it was whether he was capable of knowing what he was doing was morally wrong. Hamp testified that he believed he was being watched by secret police who were trying to frame him as a pedophile. He said he wanted to save Sanche from being tortured and forced to breed and be killed. In the months before the stabbing, Hamp testified about having false memories of being molested and an increased paranoia people close to him were conspiring with the secret police. He was suspicious of medical professionals and feared they would castrate him. He was fearful of technology and was obsessed with the video game Tetris because he believed it was a test from the secret police. Throughout all of this, Sanche, who was working towards a master's degree in counselling, kept detailed notes of what was happening to Hamp and her concerns for him. Dr. Shabehram Lohrasbe, a forensic psychiatrist who testified at the trial and has provided thousands of assessments over his career, said he had never seen anything like it. 'In her death, her words in writing, essentially are what the court relied on, and what Dr. Lohrasbe relied on, to provide him with this evidence for the (not criminally responsible) verdict,' Pfefferle said. 'In many respects, quite tragically, Emily continued to advocate for Thomas.' Bliss said this case is different from a majority of murder trials because Hamp didn't give any statement to police the night of the killing and didn't speak to anyone about what happened in any great detail until he spoke with psychiatrists. 'One challenge, I would say for the Crown, is discerning how to cross-examine someone when basically the statement they've given has been supporting the ultimate finding of (not criminally responsible),' he said. Hamp's parents, Bryan and Sandi, declined to speak with reporters following Currie's decision, but later sent a statement to media. 'We are grateful that Justice Currie carefully reviewed this case and found Thomas not criminally responsible. We, like everyone who knew and loved Emily Sanche will forever grieve her death,' the statement said. 'Her diary was the central evidence that was used in this case. She knew Thomas best and her diligence in documenting his decline was so careful and detailed. We could not help but feel her advocacy for Thomas transcended her passing.' Pfefferle said Thursday marks 40 months to the day Hamp was incarcerated. Hamp never applied for release and hoped serving time would give the family closure. Pfefferle said that stability will 'bode well' for reintegration back into society. According to the Criminal Code of Canada, The Saskatchewan Review Board, an independent administrative tribunal, must hold a disposition trial within 45 days to determine Hamp's fate, unless an extension is granted. Hamp will be transported to the Saskatchewan Hospital in North Battleford until that takes place.
CBC
03-07-2025
- CBC
Judge finds Thomas Hamp not criminally responsible in 2022 stabbing death of Emily Sanche
Social Sharing A Saskatoon judge ruled Thursday that Thomas Hamp was in the throes of a psychotic break when he fatally stabbed his partner Emily Sanche in 2022 and is not criminally responsible for his actions. Justice Grant Currie said he accepted forensic psychiatrist Shabehram Lohrasbe's opinion on Hamp's mental state at the time of the stabbing. "This leads me to the conclusion that, when he stabbed and killed Emily, Thomas likely was operating under a mental disorder that rendered him incapable of knowing that doing so was wrong," Currie wrote in his 22-page decision at Court of King's Bench. Hamp's judge-alone trial on the charge of second-degree murder began in September 2024. From the start, the defence never disputed that Hamp stabbed Sanche. "This isn't going to be a whodunit," lawyer Brian Pfefferle said on the first day of the trial. "There is a mental element that will be an issue." Prosecutor Cory Bliss did not disagree that there was a mental element at play. But instead of accepting that the then-25-year-old was suffering from "schizophrenic spectrum disorder," he suggested that Hamp's heavy use of cannabis to self-medicate his symptoms for obsessive compulsive disorder led to him killing Sanche. This would mean Hamp was criminally responsible for what happened. Bliss read an agreed statement of facts into the record at the start of the trial. "In the early morning hours of Feb. 20, 2022, Thomas retrieved a kitchen knife from the set of knives found within the suite," Bliss said. "He stabbed Emily in the upper left chest with that knife. In doing so the blade broke and remained lodged in Emily's body." She died later in hospital. Hamp had originally been charged with aggravated assault. According to the statement, Hamp originally told a neighbour and police that a man had broken into the third-floor apartment and attacked the couple. He recanted that later, saying that he stabbed Sanche and then himself. The paper trail Sanche was aware of Hamp's deteriorating mental condition and kept careful notes about her efforts to get help. These notes proved critical to the psychiatric assessment by Shabehram Lohrasbe, the forensic psychiatrist retained by defence. Lohrasbe testified that he met with Hamp twice in person and then again by video, for a total of five hours. He also interviewed Hamp's parents and reviewed reports from his clinical treatment for obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Lohrasbe also reviewed detailed notes and text messages written by Sanche, who was studying for a master's degree in counselling and expressed concerns about her partner's deteriorating mental health in the year before he killed her. Lohrasbe also reviewed notes take by Sanche's cousin. The notes included observations Sanche made hours before her death, after the couple contacted the Saskatoon Crisis Intervention Service. Hamp was supposed to go to the hospital that day. Lohrasbe said he's done thousands of assessments over his four-decade career and that the written records from the two young women "are incredibly important documents." He said Sanche's text message chain "is poignant, and so close to the offence." "I've never seen anything like it." In his analysis, Lohrasbe said Hamp's worsening OCD symptoms and heavy cannabis use almost surely played a role in the psychotic episode, but "their precise potential roles cannot be delineated." Next step: the Saskatchewan Review Board The decision by Justice Currie ends Hamp's journey through the criminal justice system. Pfefferle said the next step is for his case to go before the Saskatchewan Review Board. It decides what happens to individuals the court finds not criminally responsible. "It isn't about punishment at all," he said. "It's singularly focused on trying to determine whether a person is safe to be released into the community. And once they're determined to be safe, and conditions are formulated, then the person can be released." In a written statement, Hamp's parents Bryan and Sandi thanked the judge for the finding. "We, like everyone who knew and loved Emily Sanche will forever grieve her death," they wrote. "Emily was a beautiful, honest, smart and caring person. We are grateful for Emily's love for our son and the dedication she showed him."
CBC
28-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
Judge hears closing arguments in Saskatoon trial of man who stabbed partner to death
The case against accused murderer Thomas Hamp is closed and it's now up to a Court of King's Bench judge to decide which interpretation of events to agree with. Prosecutor Cory Bliss and defence lawyer Brian Pfefferle made final arguments Wednesday before Justice Grant Currie at the 28-year-old's judge-alone second-degree murder trial. The issue is not whether Hamp fatally stabbed his partner Emily Sanche on Feb. 20, 2022 — he admitted that at trial. Rather, the defence contends Hamp was in a mental health crisis that left him incapable of knowing that what he was doing was wrong. "There's only one explanation for why Thomas Hamp would have done this to Emily Sanche and it's he was suffering from an acute psychotic episode where he was not in touch with reality," Pfefferle said. The Crown is suggesting that Hamp was in a drug-induced psychosis when he killed Sanche and then claimed an intruder had stabbed her and tried to kill him. "From our perspective, it's very unusual that someone would commit a crime while deluded and then immediately suggest that someone else committed the crime," Bliss said. Both Bliss and Pfefferle relied, to varying degrees, on a 25-page assessment done by forensic psychiatrist Shabehram Lohrasbe. The veteran doctor was hired by the defence. Lohrasbe concluded in his report, based on five hours of interviews with Hamp and a review of notes kept by Sanche and her cousin Catherine, that Hamp "was acutely and severely psychotic" when he killed Sanche in their apartment. "Psychosis was the dominant factor that drove his violence," Lohrasbe wrote. "It is likely that his capacity to 'know' that his actions were wrong, in the real world, was severely impaired." While testifying by video, Lohrasbe said he could not overstate the importance of the notes kept by Emily Sanche and her cousin. Pfefferle noted in his close that "her real time overview was not marred by memory, delusion, distortion or inaccuracy." "The detailed notes and text messages that Emily and her cousin Catherine compiled, described by Dr. Lohrasbe as 'incredibly important documents' are rare in their depth and immediacy." he said. "Dr. Lohrasbe, a psychiatrist with over four decades of experience and thousands of assessments to his name, testified that he had 'never seen anything like it.' Emily's text message chain, he testified was 'poignant, and so close to the offence' that it offered unparalleled insight into the rapid deterioration of Thomas's mental state." Bliss offered a different take on the impact of Sanche's detailed record. He suggested that a list compiled by the 25-year-old in her journal in the days before her death, which referenced the need for a mental health warrant and the necessity of seeing a doctor, actually provided the motive for the attack. Hamp, already in a drug-induced psychosis because of his sustained cannabis use, would have seen the list as evidence Sanche was going to force medical treatment and planning on leaving him, Bliss argued. This threat of a partner pulling away is often a trigger for violence in intimate partner cases, he said. Bliss referenced how Lohrasbe was generally concerned about the impact of high-potency cannabis on a user's mental health. The doctor agreed that symptoms from drug-induced psychosis could look like mental illness. "I think there is a real concern for the public that people that choose to take psychoactive drugs, and they lose touch with reality because of that, those people should be responsible for their crimes," Bliss said outside court after the day's proceedings were done.
