Widow fears killer’s ‘imminent release’
Man who hit cop with snowplow doing ‘very well,’ panel told, but victim’s wife says he isn’t sorry
A man found not criminally responsible for killing a Toronto police officer, while continuing to do “very well” since being discharged from hospital, has never apologized directly to the officer’s widow.
Richard Kachkar was found not criminally responsible by a jury in 2013 for killing Sgt. Ryan Russell with a snowplow in January 2011during a psychotic episode.
Kachkar had been detained at Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Heath Sciences for treatment. The conditions of his detention are governed by the Ontario Review Board and are reviewed annually by a five-member panel.
He began living in supportive housing on April18, his psychiatrist, Dr. Jennifer Pytcyk, told the panel Thursday and that “he’s doing very well.”
The panel approved Kachkar’s gradual transition from the hospital to living in the community after his 2016 hearing.
And while he remains “a serious risk to the public” due to the major mental illness he suffers from, he is at a “low risk of reoffending” under his current care, according to a hospital report dated May 4, 2017.
At his annual hearing on Thursday, Russell’s widow, Christine, said Kachkar isn’t truly sorry for what he’s done.
“I wish he would just acknowledge my family is here and we are hurting,” Russell said after the hearing. She says Kachkar has never apologized to her directly.
In an emotional victim-impact statement, she said she feels her family’s heartbreak and loss is being overlooked, and that she should have been notified that Kachkar was now living in the community.
“I feel your path to freedom has been paved and I fear your imminent release,” she said to Kachkar, who never made eye contact with her and kept his head down.
“I was shocked yesterday to learn you have been living off-site in an apartment just a mere four years after the NCR verdict,” she said.
The lack of information is both “disrespectful and further proof to me that victims play no role in this system. It truly shows that the killing of my husband bears little weight over your expedited need to be free and well.”
She said she hopes “people don’t forget his crime . . . I hope that it haunts him for the rest of his life.”
In his meeting, Kachkar was seeking permission to be able to visit his daughter in Hamilton for up to 72 hours.
He is not permitted to drive. He is in contact with both his son and daughter.
Pytcyk told the panel Kachkar has been living in an apartment owned by the Canadian Mental Health Association, with twice daily visits from mental health workers (once daily on weekends).
He sees a psychologist biweekly and attends an outpatient program three days a week to assist with transitioning into the community after a long period time in hospital, she said.
Last year, he consented to taking his medications in biweekly injections from a mental-health professional in order to ensure he takes them, Pytcyk said.
Kachkar has never had any problem taking his medications and has committed to continuing to taking them, she said.
The key issue for Kachkar is managing stress — the cumulative effects of a number of stressors including relationship problems and money problems ended in a severe state of psychosis and led to a “very serious act of violence and very serious harm,” Pytyck said.
“You mean death,” Christine Russell, said softly from her seat in the public gallery.
Pytcyk said she believed Kachkar would be forthcoming about dealing with present stressors in his life. The mental health professionals who interact with him are looking for signs that arose prior to him killing Russell, including confusion, unusual thoughts, paranoia and increased religious preoccupation.
Pytyck said Kachar’s notoriety may place him in stressful situations but nothing has happened so far and they are “encouraged by his progress.” He is considering starting a volunteer position or looking for part-time work, she said.
Pytyck said that prior to any trip to see his daughter, Kachkar’s mental health would be assessed, his itinerary approved and they would speak to his daughter.
In answer to a question from a board member, Pytyck said Kachkar may be able to take other trips unaccompanied, such as to Toronto to see a baseball game, if approved by the hospital.
In response to a question from the panel about whether the way the public views Kachkar is a stressor for him, Pytyck said Kachkar “is understanding of why the public might see him that way . . . and while it must be stressful to hear those things about yourself, I think he sees them as only reasonable given what happened.”
She noted that Kachkar has struggled to reconcile the guilt and shame that comes with taking responsibility for killing Russell with moving forward with his rehabilitation. It is too early to consider a conditional discharge, Pytyck said.