Marlene Bird’s life after savage attack
Marlene Bird’s attacker found to have ‘unusually complex’ mental problems
Nearly three years after losing both her legs as a result of a brutal attack in a Prince Albert parking lot, Marlene Bird says she feels “lonely and traumatized.”
Bird’s victim impact statement, made public on Wednesday, was submitted during the dangerous offender hearing of Leslie Black, who was found guilty of attempted murder after stomping, beating and burning Bird in the summer of 2014. If Black is declared a dangerous offender, he could face an indeterminate prison sentence.
“It’s frustrating that I can’t do anything on my own anymore,” Bird wrote, adding that she always has to depend on her longtime partner, Patrick Lavallee.
In his statement, Lavallee wrote about the burden Black’s crime has placed on the couple.
“I can’t leave Marlene more than half an hour unless someone else is with her,” he wrote. “It’s 24 hours, seven days. I feel hopeless that I can’t help her.”
According to medical records made public the same day, Bird suffered burns to about 40 per cent of her body. Doctors removed what they described as “mummified” tissue, performed multiple skin grafts and kept her in a coma for several days. The fire left Bird with third- and fourth-degree burns.
She said the attack has forced her to abandon an active lifestyle. She is no longer able to go “into the bush and at the trap line” and is unable to clean, fish or pick blueberries. “I am in lots of pain and discomfort,” Bird wrote.
Her impact statement was released with virtually all of Black’s court file, including detailed medical reports from hospitals in Saskatoon and Edmonton, letters of support and two psychological evaluations.
“She was found in a ditch, left for dead, having her lower extremities burned from what appeared to be gasoline,” according to one of the medical documents.
The psychiatric assessments paint Black as a troubled man with “unusually complex” mental health problems, no close relationships and a childhood of extreme trauma. During the hearing, court heard Black witnessed his mother’s murder on his ninth birthday.
Dr. Shabehram Lohrasbe’s report recorded what Black recalled as the last words from his mother to him and his sister. “My babies,” Black remembered his mother saying, “I love you. Run and get help.”
Lohrasbe diagnosed Black with anti-social personality disorder, a condition closely associated with criminality, recklessness and a lack of empathy. He suggested Black shows signs of psychopathic personality disorder, a classification he reserves for “unusually malevolent” criminals.
Personality is deep-seated, the doctor wrote, and it’s almost impossible to teach empathy.
“It is highly unlikely that the emotional component of empathy can be increased, even among those motivated to do so,” Lohrasbe wrote in his report.
Dr. Terry Nicholaichuk’s report, by contrast, focused on a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder, which can be treated through therapy. “It is too early to conclude that Mr. Black cannot be safely managed in the community,” Nicholaichuk wrote.
Both doctors ran through a range of disorders other experts have ascribed to Black, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), oppositional defiance disorder, fetal alcohol syndrome and paranoia disorder. They found some evidence for some, though not all, of those conditions.
Each noted that Black has been convicted of more than 40 offences, including theft, break and enter, impaired driving, drug possession and robbery. None of those crimes suggested he was capable of the extreme violence shown in his attack against Bird.
“I get upset when I think about my crime,” Black said, according to Nicholaichuk’s report. “In the future I would like to live a normal life, but I can’t because I feel guilty.”
Lohrasbe said Black spoke of a “nervous breakdown” shortly after entering custody, largely because of death threats he received in prison, and that he was under suicide watch.
“I feel remorse,” Black told Lohrasbe during their four-hour meeting. However, the doctor said he couldn’t tell if Black fully understood that word, or if he was deeply troubled by what he had done.
“His demeanour was unchanged,” Lohrasbe wrote. “His affect remained impassive.”
I can’t leave Marlene more than half an hour unless someone else is with her ... I feel hopeless that I can’t help her.