Hearing put over for man accused of killing girl, 13

A review board failed to reach a decision Thursday on whether a man accused of stabbing a 13-year-old girl to death inside her Abbotsford high school is mentally fit to stand trial.

The B.C. Review Board adjourned a hearing at a forensic psychiatric hospital for at least 30 days to get a second opinion from a psychiatrist on the 21-year-old man’s mental state.

Gabriel Klein is charged with second-degree murder in the death of the teen and aggravated assault for an attack on another Grade 9 girl in November 2016.

He shuffled into the hearing room wearing sandals, baggy shorts and a long-sleeved T-shirt, his eyes glassy, hair messy and mouth hanging open. “Where am I?” he asked. After a board member explained that he was at a hearing to determine whether he was fit to stand trial, he murmured something inaudible.

At times during the hearing, he turned back to peer at the spectators in the room, and occasionally raised his arms into the air and slowly lowered them down to the table.

In April, a judge ruled the man was unfit to stand trial because of his schizophrenia, auditory hallucinations and disordered thinking. The court ordered the review board to reassess his fitness in 90 days.

The review board heard Thursday there has been little change in Klein’s mental health since April.

His psychiatrist has tried five different antipsychotic medications, and while there’s been modest improvement, he still hears voices, has visual hallucinations and can’t process information, the board heard.

“He is quite significantly ill,” his psychiatrist, Marcel Hediger, said. “It will take more time.”

The core issue is whether Klein would be able to understand the proceedings if he did stand trial, said his lawyer, Peters, outside the hospital. “Somebody’s on trial for murder, they should understand what’s going on.”

If his client did stand trial, Peters said he would ask a court to find the man not criminally responsible.