Psychiatrist believes killer a psychopath

Teen who stabbed 16-year-old girl lacks remorse, doctor testifies

In his close to 20 years working with adolescents in the criminal justice system, Dr. Brent Harold has met with approximately 5,600 patients.

Of those, he views just four — maybe five — as meeting the definition of a psychopath.

The 19-year-old man awaiting sentence for the Jan. 12, 2015, murder of teenager Hannah Leflar is among them.

Leflar was just 16 when her then16-year-old ex-boyfriend armed himself with a buck knife and entered her Regina home, stabbing and slashing her to death.

An agreed statement of facts outlined a troubling history that began when Leflar ended the relationship in May 2014, a breakup the male did not take well.

The youth decided to kill Leflar when he saw photos of her with her new boyfriend.

Harold said he first saw the youth in the summer of 2015, responding to a concern the teen was depressed.

It was at one of the first visits the youth told the psychiatrist he believed he had been suffering from schizophrenia at the time of the killing, saying voices in his head had urged him to do it — a claim Harold discounted when the youth didn’t present any other symptoms needed for such a diagnosis.

“It was simply an attempt to come up with a reason to explain what happened,” Harold told the court, adding he did not believe the youth was under the influence of a psychiatric disorder like schizophrenia or psychosis at the time of the offence.

While the doctor put the youth on medication for depression, he told the court that when the youth stopped taking it and experienced no significant change, the doctor concluded he was no longer depressed.

While court heard details the youth made threats to kill himself if handed an adult sentence, and even attempted suicide once in the past, Harold made a point of defining the incident as one of self-harm rather than an actual attempt by the youth to end his own life.

Harold described the youth as bearing a number of traits that caused the psychiatrist concern about psychopathy, such as an attempt to manipulate him; a lack of acceptance of the circumstances of his incarceration; narcissism; grandiose statements about his own abilities; and a lack of guilt or remorse about his crime.

“There’s a certain callousness about what’s happened, a certain lack of empathy and remorse,” he said.

Harold said the details of the crime itself point toward conduct disorder — the youth precursor of diagnoses of anti-social personality disorder or psychopathy.

Under cross-examination by codefence lawyer James Struthers, Harold acknowledged he might rethink his conclusions if he learned the 19-year-old had expressed remorse — depending on the context and to whom he’d expressed it.

Court had heard earlier from a psychologist and a second psychiatrist who spoke about the 19-year-old reporting he regretted his actions.

“He had hoped he would meet with Hannah on the other side so he could say he was sorry,” said registered psychologist Elizabeth McGrath, also speaking about the youth’s suicidal statements.

The hearing is to decide whether the 19-year-old should be sentenced as a youth or an adult for his first-degree murder conviction.

An adult sentence carries an automatic life term although, because he is a youth, parole eligibility would be set at 10 years.

The maximum youth sentence for first-degree murder is 10 years, which would be divided between time in custody and community supervision.

Under provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act, the 19-year old cannot be identified unless sentenced as an adult.

There’s a certain callousness about what’s happened, a certain lack of empathy and remorse. DR. BRENT HAROLD