Student adviser says she feared accused in UBC assault might try to harm himself
A student residence adviser testified Friday that the young man accused of attempting to murder another student at UBC was depressed and she was worried he might harm himself.
Janani Rangarajan said she met Thamer Almestadi several times less than a week before his alleged involvement in the Oct. 4, 2016 assault on Mary Hare in her room at the university’s Salish House residence.
She told B.C. Supreme Court Justice Margot Fleming that Almestadi, a teen from Saudi Arabia, told her that he was finding school difficult as it was his first time studying in English.
“He said he wasn’t doing very well, he wasn’t studying very much, and he wasn’t going to classes much,” said Rangarajan, now a third-year student at UBC. “He said he didn’t have too many friends.” The only social activity Almestadi enjoyed was having a smoke outside the building, and he told her that he wanted to join a dance club but worried that it was against his Islamic religion, she said.
Rangarajan said she was worried that Almestadi was depressed and might harm himself and spoke to her residence supervisor, who agreed that they should go back and question Almestadi further.
Later that day, she said she ran into Almestadi in the elevator and the accused told her that he had skipped one of his labs and was on his way out of the building.
“He said, ‘I’m fine, I’m OK, don’t worry,’ which made me even more worried.”
The next day she said she met with Almestadi in his room and asked him whether he felt like harming himself. Almestadi said no. She said Almestadi appeared paranoid and believed that other people were watching him.
The meeting ended with Almestadi agreeing that he needed help and should seek counselling, said Rangarajan.
Under cross-examination by defence lawyer Tamara Duncan, Rangarajan agreed that Almestadi told her he was questioning whether a university education was something he wanted to pursue.
He was even questioning the point of universities. she added.
The witness also agreed that at no point did Almestadi express anger or violent thoughts about harming someone else.
Noah Bennett, a roommate of Almestadi, testified that the accused often slept through his classes, had difficulties waking up and was worried about his coming midterm exams.
Asked by Crown counsel Daniel Porte about Almestadi’s general demeanour, Bennett said his roommate for the most part kept to himself.
“But he was a polite person. He smiled at people and he seemed like a nice guy to be around, usually.”
Under cross-examination, Bennett said he was “definitely surprised” to hear about Almestadi’s involvement in the attack.
Duncan told the judge that she expected to be calling Almestadi to testify, possibly on Thursday, and that she anticipated also calling a psychiatrist to the stand.
The main issue at trial is whether Almestadi, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges, was not criminally responsible for the offence due to a mental disorder.