Bain suffered from bipolar disorder: psychiatrist
Richard Henry Bain appeared to be psychotic and suffering from a bipolar disorder two weeks after his arrest in the election night shooting, forensic psychiatrist Marie Frédérique Allard told the jury hearing the murder case.
Testifying as an expert witness for the defence at the Montreal courthouse Wednesday, Allard spoke of her first meeting with Bain, on Sept 18, 2012, at an infirmary inside the Rivière-des-Prairies Detention Centre.
That’s where Bain was being held following his arrest for the Sept. 4 murder of Denis Blanchette and the attempted murder of Dave Courage. Both were stagehands at the Metropolis nightclub on the night of that year’s provincial election. The shooting occurred while then premier designate and Parti Québécois leader Pauline Marois was delivering her victory speech.
Allard was given a mandate by the defence to determine whether Bain could be found criminally responsible for the shooting.
She testified that, following her nearly three-hour meeting with Bain, she believed he was “experiencing psychosis related to a bipolar disorder.”
She believed the psychosis was brought on by an anti-depressant, Effexor, that had been prescribed to Bain long before the shooting and that he continued to take while detained. Much of the defence’s evidence has focused on Bain’s use of Cymbalta, an anti-depressant he was prescribed in 2008. His general practitioner stopped prescribing it in 2009 because of Bain’s strange behaviour in November of that year. But Bain testified he continued to use Cymbalta shortly before the shooting and consumed several of the pills on the day of the shooting.
“I believed he was in a manic episode with psychotic elements,” Allard said of her meeting with Bain. She explained such episodes can last for several weeks. She also told the jury that, in her opinion, Bain’s general practitioner, Stan Van Duyse, should have asked him to consult a psychiatrist following the November 2009 appointment.
The first thing she did after her first meeting with Bain was call a psychiatrist who had examined him after his arrest and said that she recommended Bain stop taking the medication immediately. The other psychiatrist agreed, but felt Bain’s dosage should be reduced first and then ceased.
“That never happened,” Allard said.
On the same day Allard asked that Bain stop being given the anti-depressant, Bain called the CJAD radio station and was interviewed by news announcer and commentator Trudie Mason. The jury has already heard the strange interview during which Bain refused to talk about the shooting but said he had “a vision” from God that showed Montreal should be partitioned from Quebec and remain in Canada in the event the province separates from the country.
Bain’s lawyer, Alan Guttman, asked Allard if she believed Bain was still experiencing psychosis when he gave the interview.
“I was sure of it,” Allard said, adding Bain’s actions that day included two of the symptoms of a person experiencing psychosis while suffering from a bipolar disorder. One was Bain’s grandiose feeling and distorted perception that he had a vision from God. The other is that he displayed impaired judgment by insisting on being interviewed while charged with first-degree murder.
During her first meeting with Bain, the day before the radio interview, he appeared to be irritable, arrogant and distrustful of her, Allard said.
“I asked him if (the situation he found himself in) was difficult for him,” Allard told the jury. “He said, ‘not at all because for Christians there is no death.’ “
He said he had been raised as an Anglican but was baptized, in the Riviére Rouge near his home in La Conception, in 2011. It was an apparent reference to being a bornagain Christian, which has been referred to a few times during the trial.
“My God will judge me. You have to live a Christian life,” Allard quoted Bain as saying. She challenged that assertion by reminding Bain he had killed someone. Bain also told Allard that God would choose the judge and jury for his trial.
“He told me God had a plan for everyone, that ‘these events were my mission,’ ” Allard said. She was careful to note Bain later changed that statement to say the shooting “was the will of God.”
Allard had another meeting with Bain on Nov. 9, 2012 and determined there was little change. While her mandate was to determine whether he could be found criminally responsible for what happened, she assessed him as not even being fit to stand trial.
She said the man she interviewed couldn’t grasp the gravity of what could happen to him in court and wouldn’t be able to assist a defence lawyer in any court proceedings. Her assessment was never brought before a judge because his former attorney stopped representing Bain months after his arrest, Allard said.
When asked about what is known about Bain’s behaviour on the day of the shooting Allard said there are “indications” he was suffering from the psychotic episode even then “but it is not enough to make a diagnosis.”