Man charged with murder in 2024 Dartmouth hospital assault

Halifax Regional Police have upgraded charges against a 32-year-old man from aggravated assault to second-degree murder following a man's death last year.

On May 9, 2024, police responded to the East Coast Forensic Hospital in Dartmouth, N.S., after a patient assaulted another patient. The hospital is Nova Scotia's only secure mental health facility.

The victim, 69-year-old Allen Nickerson, sustained serious injuries and was hospitalized.

Mohamed Issak, 32, was charged with aggravated assault the next day and remanded back to the hospital.

Nickerson succumbed to his injuries on July 6.

In December, the Nova Scotia Medical Examiner Service ruled the death a homicide, leading to the upgraded charge.

Nickerson was found not criminally responsible due to mental disorder on a charge of first-degree murder in the death of his mother, Margaret Nickerson, in December 1994. The East Coast Forensic Hospital operates a rehabilitation program for people who have been found not criminally responsible or unfit to stand trial by the Nova Scotia justice system.

In January 2016, Issak was found not criminally responsible on charges of assault with a weapon on account of mental disorder.

During a brief appearance in Dartmouth provincial court on Thursday afternoon, Crown prosecutor Scott Morrison said police have not yet been able to arrest Issak on the murder charge.

Morrison said Issak is "not experiencing a great deal of mental stability."

Morrison said Issak has been moved back and forth between the hospital and the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility, which are two halves of the same building in Burnside.

Issak was not present for Thursday's court appearance. His case returns to court on Feb. 14.

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