Man who stabbed landlord could get more freedoms
John Lai is now without symptoms of his schizophrenia, hearing told
John Lai, who fatally stabbed his former landlord Cindy Torbar 127 times in Peterborough, could see additional freedoms as he continues his recovery.
Doctors at Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences, where Lai is currently a patient, say he is doing well with his rehabilitation and additional privileges would help him progress.
A hearing was held Thursday in Oshawa by the Ontario Review Board on Thursday to see whether Lai would be released to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto.
At the hearing Lai sat with his head down for the first half of the hearing but began looking at the speakers towards the end,,
Psychiatrist Dr. Zohar Waisman told the hearing his patient has been well-behaved and wellcontrolled.
“He has done very well and been an active participant in (an intensive psychological therapy) program,” Waisman said.
His release to a lower-security unit, which could take a year or more due to a wait list, could grant him additional privileges not seen in his current unit.
On March 16, 2016, police found Lai in a house at 261 Middlefield Rd. in Peterborough with a bloody-butcher knife over 52year-old Torbar’s body. During the response to the late-night attack, Lai was shot by city police.
The officer who shot him, Const. Randy Ready, has since been cleared by the Special Investigations Unit.
In a joint submission by his lawyer and the Crown, Lai was found not criminally responsible on a charge of first-degree murder due to intense schizophrenia.
Lai believed by stabbing Torbar he was releasing demons from her.