Murder suspect in Abbotsford school stabbing found mentally unfit to stand trial

A B.C. Supreme Court justice has found that a man accused of stabbing an Abbotsford high school student to death is mentally unfit to stand trial.

Justice Heather Holmes handed down her decision in New Westminster on Friday, saying Gabriel Klein's unstable mental state must be taken into account for the proceedings.

Holmes said Klein has a right to be present during the entire trial, and that requires more than just a physical presence.

Klein was charged with second-degree murder and aggravated assault in connection the stabbing at Abbotsford Secondary School in November 2016.

During this week's hearings, a defence lawyer said his client's ongoing psychosis makes him unfit to stand trial for the murder. 

Martin Peters said Klein has reported hearing voices, has difficulty communicating because of his disordered thinking, and the stress of a trial could cause his mental state to deteriorate further.

Klein was 21 years old when he was arrested for the stabbing on Nov. 2, 2016. He did not speak or respond to questions in his first three court appearances.

"Mr. Klein submits that his inability to meaningfully participate in his trial renders him unfit,'' Peters said in a B.C. Supreme Court hearing Thursday.

Crown lawyer Rob Macgowan told the judge on Thursday that if the court accepts evidence establishing that there are times Klein isn't fit for trial, then the Crown was not opposed.

Klein was charged the day after Letisha Reimer, 13, was stabbed to death at the school. A 14-year-old girl, whose name is under a publication ban, was wounded.

On Wednesday, Klein's psychiatrist, Dr. Marcel Hediger, testified that he believes his patient has schizophrenia and is "actively psychotic.''

Hediger said Klein thinks the CIA is following and trying to kill him, and that corrections staff are trying to poison him through his medication.

The psychiatrist said he assessed Klein twice and determined that, at those times, the man was "not unfit'' to stand trial.

But he noted the man's mental state is variable and very fragile, and his psychosis had worsened in the past two weeks.

"Mr. Klein reported to me that he was hearing voices and the voices were telling him at the time to rape and harm one of his co-patients,'' Hediger said.

"Mr. Klein had, in a period just before that, actually entered another patient's room and urinated on the patient's pillow and his bed.''

The doctor said Klein had also told him he killed one person and seriously hurt another.

Hediger told the hearing it was "fairly likely'' that the stress of a drawn-out trial would cause Klein's state to deteriorate to a point where he would be unable to follow the proceedings or communicate with his lawyer.

Klein's trial had been set for May 7.

The judge has ordered him detained in the forensic psychiatric hospital.

The British Columbia Review Board will re-evaluate Klein's mental fitness within 90 days. If the board determines he's fit at that time, he'll be returned to court for another fitness hearing.