Convicted wife-killer won’t get assessment of his mental condition
Sentencing for Jason Daniel Mckay, found guilty of stabbing his wife Jenny Leigh Mckay to death, will proceed without an assessment looking into whether a mental disorder meant he was not criminally responsible for the crime.
“The evidence is overwhelming that Mr. Mckay appreciated the nature and consequences of his actions and that he appreciated what he did was wrong,” Regina Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Michael Tochor wrote in his 21-page ruling.
In January, Mckay, 48, was convicted after trial of second-degree murder in the Sept. 6, 2017 killing of his 33-year-old wife. Through his defence lawyer Thomas Hynes, Mckay requested an assessment of his mental condition with the intention of advancing a not-criminally-responsible (NCR) defence.
This week, Tochor returned with his decision, dismissing the application. While such NCR assessments are most often requested earlier in proceedings, court heard it was open to the judge to consider the matter at any time prior to sentencing.
Crown prosecutor Adam Breker had urged the court to dismiss the application, arguing there was no air of reality to the defence and therefore no reasonable grounds for the assessment.
Tochor pointed out it is not necessary by law for an accused to establish the existence of a mental disorder in simply applying for an assessment, only that there are reasonable grounds to suspect one. Tochor noted, however, that the law mandates the mental disorder in question has to be one such that it rendered Mckay incapable of “appreciating the nature and quality of his acts or that his acts were wrong.”
Tochor added the court was limited to considering findings made at trial, and not evidence inconsistent with those findings.
Hynes had argued Mckay’s testimony at trial — that he experienced a prolonged alcohol- and medication-induced blackout interspersed with disturbing dreamlike memories — was evidence he was experiencing a mental disorder at the time. He’d described hearing voices telling him to kill Jenny.
But Tochor pointed out he didn’t accept that evidence at trial, having found Mckay’s testimony on that point unreliable — meaning he couldn’t order an assessment on that basis.
He said the “possibility” Mckay was in a dissociative state brought on by depression was not sufficient to grant an assessment.
“There is no evidence his depression rendered him incapable of appreciating the consequences of his actions or knowing they were wrong,” the judge wrote.
Tochor further found no evidence Mckay suffered a “psychological blow” when Jenny told him the relationship was over, rendering him incapable of control. Tochor said Mckay didn’t suggest anything of the sort during his testimony.
“Whether I consider each of Mr. Mckay’s various arguments alone, or in conjunction with one another, I conclude the required grounds for an assessment do not exist,” Tochor wrote.
The judge pointed to evidence suggesting Mckay knew what he did, including a variety of comments he made to police in the hours following the killing.
“I already know I’m charged for murder, ’cause she’s dead. Dead,” he said at one point. “There’s so much blood in there it’s not even funny.”
Later, he told police he knew she was dead because he watched her for two hours.
“He not only appreciated what he did was wrong, he appreciated his actions were criminal and he understood he would be charged with murder,” Tochor wrote. “In fact, his level of appreciation went further, to the point he knew he may be liable to a sentence of twenty-five years to life.”
Because of COVID-19 issues, Tochor will discuss with parties involved how and when sentencing will proceed. The sentencing hearing is currently set for April 3.