Man, 85, charged with death of wife has dementia, says lawyer and family
Fred Van Zuiden, the city senior charged with killing his wife, said Friday he has never murdered anyone.
A confused-looking Van Zuiden appeared in provincial court where defence lawyer Alain Hepner asked that the dementia sufferer undergo further psychiatric testing to determine his fitness to stand trial.
“I have not committed a murder in all my life,” Van Zuiden said, as guards led him from the courtroom.
Hepner told Judge Ken McLeod that psychiatrist Dr. Ken Hashman requires another month to determine Van Zuiden’s mental capacity to understand the legal process.
Van Zuiden, 85, is charged with second-degree murder in connection with the death of his wife of 56 years, Audrey.
Audrey van Zuiden, 80, was found dead in the couple’s Rideau Place S.W. home on Oct. 4.
Van Zuiden seemed dumbfounded as his brief court appearance ended.
“I cannot believe it, I cannot believe it. I’m being accused,” he said as he was ordered to return to the Southern Alberta Forensic Psychiatry Centre for further testing.
“In this wonderful country how can you do such a thing,” he said.
Hepner earlier told court he had hoped his client would have been excused from attending because of the stress appearing in court has on van Zuiden.
But he told McLeod that even though his client signed a designation of counsel, which would allow the lawyer to appear without the accused, he wasn’t certain van Zuiden knew what he was signing.
“I can’t file a designation because he doesn’t understand,” Hepner said. “I’m not satisfied that he fully understands the reason for signing the document so I chose not to file it.”
At Hepner’s request, McLeod said van Zuiden could be excused for his next scheduled appearance.
Gordon van Gunst and Vince Walker were among a handful of friends there to support van Zuiden.
It was “very painful” to hear his comments, Walker said.
“More stresses for Fred are not good and we’re really really look- ing forward to having him in the right place,” said Walker, who is van Zuiden’s godson.
Van Gunst said a psychiatric hospital is the right place for van Zuiden.
“He seems to be well taken care of in the hospital, they’re assessing him and trying to figure out exactly the level of dementia that he has,” van Gunst said.
He said his friend was obviously confused about being in court.
“That’s the big thing ... not understanding what’s really going on,” he said.
Outside court, Hepner said the further testing was necessary.
“He is very ill,” the lawyer said. “You can see from his conduct in the courtroom that dementia is a very live issue,” he said.
Van Zuiden’s case returns to court on Dec. 2.