Judge finds Ontario man not criminally responsible for killing ex-neighbour [Video]

A Toronto man on trial for the 2022 murder of his former neighbour has been found not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder.

Superior Court Justice Maureen Forestell delivered her verdict to Devret Clarke in a downtown Toronto courtroom Wednesday. Forestell has been presiding over the judge-alone trial for Clarke, who was charged with the first-degree murder of Gars-Ara Kourjakian on Dec. 30, 2022.

Forestell concluded that Clarke, who was experiencing symptoms of schizophrenia, including paranoid delusions and hallucinations, was actively psychotic at the time he killed Kourjakian. The judge was satisfied on a balance of probabilities that Clarke’s mental disorder rendered him incapable of knowing his act was wrong.

“He viewed his conduct as justified according to his own moral code and according to the norms of society,” Forestell told court.

Clarke’s lawyers argued last monthhe should be found not criminally responsible and relied on the opinions of two forensic psychiatrists who …