Richard Edwin has been found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder for the killings of two strangers on April 7, 2022, and April 9, 2022.
Superior Court Justice Jane Kelly rejected Edwin’s defence that he should be found not criminally responsible (NCR) due to a mental disorder.
Kelly found there was no evidence that Edwin was experiencing command auditory hallucinations or delusions at the time of the killings “other than hearsay reports he provided to the forensic psychiatrists” years later, after being incarcerated.
Edwin admitted he shot and killed 21-year-old Seneca College student Kartik Vasudev and 35-year-old Elijah Mahepath. But his lawyers argued his mental disorder rendered him incapable, on a balance of probabilities, of knowing that his conduct was morally wrong.
The judge accepted that Edwin was suffering from a major mental illness, namely schizophrenia, at the time of the shootings and that he lived an isolated life in which nobody knew what he was thinking, believing or doing. She also found that it was obvious that Edwin was paranoid, given he was storing goods for survival and self-defence.
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“He researched, purchased and utilized born-worn cameras,” said Kelly.
But Kelly found that Edwin was organized and methodical, planned both shootings and was capable of understanding the moral wrongfulness of his actions.
“These shootings were not impulsive nor were they an immediate reaction to some triggering action caused by an outside influence (i.e. hallucinations or delusions based on admissible evidence). These acts appear to have been thought out or planned over time,” Kelly added.
It was April 7, 2022, when Edwin left his home at Spadina Avenue and Bloor Street West and took the TTC to Sherbourne TTC station in possession of a loaded firearm. He ascended the stairs to the street.
Vasudev was walking on the sidewalk past the Sherbourne station, towards the staircase to Bloor Street East. Edwin walked in Vasudev’s direction, rushed past him, then turned to face his back. He withdrew his firearm and discharged it several times as Vasudev was walking away. Vasudev fell to the ground, and Edwin ran south on Glen Road. He turned around, stopped, faced Vasudev and shot in his direction several more times. Vasudev died.
Two days later, on April 9, 2022, Edwin left his home in possession of the same loaded firearm used to kill Vasudev. He took the subway to Queen Street Station and exited. He walked to Dundas Street, where Mahepath was also walking slightly behind Edwin.
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2:21
Toronto man admits he shot 2 strangers 2 days apart in April 2022
Mahepath passed Edwin and, as an ambulance was passing by, Edwin withdrew his firearm and discharged it in Mahepath’s direction several times, hitting him in the back. Mahepath fell to the ground and Edwin continued to shoot in his direction. Mahepath also died.
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Edwin told two forensic psychiatrists that at the time of shooting Vasudev on April 7, 2022, he packed a bag containing a tent, peanut butter, his AR-15 rifle and a handgun to go to the woods. Edwin had legally acquired five firearms by the time of the shootings. He then headed to the woods. He soon realized he had his cellphone and didn’t want the government to track him, so he returned home.
He then took the subway to Sherbourne station. He started hallucinating about a man “sitting on a tree stump” who told him to “shoot that guy,” and he did. Edwin said he pulled out his firearm to be obedient to the voices and did not think of anything else.
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He explained that he followed the command to shoot because he thought the man was connected to the strangers who communicated to him through body language. He wanted the victim to die “because the voices told me to shoot them.” He said he ran away afterwards because he thought the police would come.
In the shooting of Mahepath on April 9, 2022, Edwin told the psychiatrists that on that day, he was selling newspapers with a colleague when two people from the body language community told him to “do more.”
He went home around noon and practised shooting in front of a mirror, as he did not want to shoot himself by accident. He did not recall thinking about anything else at the time.
He went to Dundas station and walked to Toronto Metropolitan University, then known as Ryerson University. He was told by the voice to “hold back” and not shoot anyone. He then walked to Dundas and Sherbourne streets, walking west as he heard the voice.
Edwin said he came upon “two men conversating (sic) … and one said, “Suck you mother,” under his breath .. and then another voice said, “F– it, shoot him.”
Edwin said he told the psychiatrist he shot the stranger in the back eight times. He said he was aware he was putting Mahepath to death and “maybe thought it was good because the voices were telling me to do it.”
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The families of Kartik Vasudev and Elijah Mahepath leave court on April 20 after Richard Edwin was found guilty in the deaths of the two men.
Catherine McDonald/Global News
Dr. Lisa Ramshaw testified that, on a balance of probabilities, the NCR defence was supported for Edwin, whereas Dr. Alina Iosif said that her finding did not support the NCR defence.
Ramshaw testified that in Edwin’s self-report, he reported the shootings occurred in the context of an underlying paranoid belief system. For example, Edwin feared being attacked and killed by white supremacists from Ukraine.
Iosif testified that when alternative scenarios were given to Edwin, he advised her that he wouldn’t kill a woman or a child “because they are more innocent.”
He also said he wouldn’t have shot if he thought he was unable to get away with it, or if his father was present. “He said that his father would not have thought that his actions were right because ‘he does not believe in killing people.”
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Edwin did not testify at trial.
The judge said she gave the psychiatrists’ opinions little or no weight, given that Edwin’s evidence to them was hearsay.
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Psychiatrist testifies Toronto man who shot 2 strangers was psychotic but knew it was wrong
Kelly said, along with seeming rational, organized and methodical at the time of the shootings, Edwin exhibited no bizarre behaviour immediately before, during or after the killings.
“Other than the senseless killings of Mr. Vasudev and Mr. Mahepath, there was no evidence that Mr. Edwin was preoccupied by any auditory hallucinations or delusions,” the judge concluded.
Regarding his after-the-fact conduct, just 24 minutes after Edwin entered his home following the shooting of Mahepath, he was observed by a police officer disposing of a grey knotted grocery bag in the garbage bins outside the apartment. The officer retrieved the bag and found the clothing worn by Edwin during both of the shootings.
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Kelly also found there was no evidence at the time he was booked, nor during his police interview, that Edwin was disorganized, delusional or hallucinating.
The 43-year-old, who faces a mandatory life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years, stared straight ahead from the prisoner’s box as the judge read her reasons for judgment. The families of Vasudev and Mahepath are expected to deliver victim impact statements later this week.