N.B. mom stands by son who killed dad in Manitoba motel

A New Brunswick mother is fighting to bring her son closer to home after he was found not criminally responsible for killing his father in a Manitoba hotel room last year.

Donna Craig's 26-year-old son, Dana, has bipolar disorder and is currently staying at the PsycHealth Centre at Winnipeg's Health Sciences Centre.

He was charged with second-degree murder after his father, 63-year-old Terry Craig, was found strangled and stabbed to death at the Motel 6 in Brandon, Man., on April 10, 2013.

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In October, Dana Craig was found not criminally responsible for the killing on account of his mental illness.

The Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench ruled that he was in an acute psychotic episode at the time of the attack.

"Not for a moment have I blamed him. I always blame the illness," Donna Craig told CBC News in her first television interview since her husband's death.

Craig said her son was doing much better when she last saw him in January, and he regrets what he has done.

"It's still his father. He loved his father, and he's got to carry that the rest of his life," she said.

In December, the Manitoba Review Board ruled that Dana Craig should remain in custody and continue to take medication as required.

• Read the review board's full ruling here (PDF)

Craig is trying to get Dana transferred to a psychiatric hospital in New Brunswick so she can be closer to him.

Craig said she still struggles with the pain of losing her husband at the hands of her son.

"We knew he was manic. We knew he needed help, but it's the illness that has done this," she said.

At the same time, she is standing by Dana, and she hopes the public can do the same.

"I think the big thing is education," she said. "People have to know that it is an illness."