Toronto man unlawfully caused deaths of parents in 2022, judge rules

A Toronto man unlawfully caused the death of his parents and attempted to kill his brother in Etobicoke in September 2022, an Ontario judge has ruled.

Superior Court Justice Joan Barrett delivered her decision in the judge-alone trial of Alpha Henry in a Toronto courtroom Thursday.

Henry is charged with two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of his parents, Colin Henry, 68, and Veronica Henry, 67, and attempted murder of his brother, Daniel Kwame Henry.

But Barrett stopped short of finding Henry guilty Thursday, as his defence team had indicated in November that they plan to file a motion declaring him not criminally responsible based on mental illness if the court had found he committed an unlawful act.

Barrett said in her reasons that she completely rejects the evidence by the defence presented at trial.

"I do not believe the defendant's account that Daniel attacked him and his parents," the judge writes. "I completely reject his evidence. The defendant's account does not accord with reason and common sense."

On Sept. 21, 2022, at about 1:30 a.m., Toronto police were called to a unit in an apartment building at 27 Bergamot Ave., near Islington Avenue and Rexdale Boulevard.

When they arrived, they found Henry's parents dead in their bathtub. Both were stabbed and doused with gasoline.

Alpha Henry, was arrested nearby after his younger brother, Daniel, called 911 from a gas station. Court heard Daniel had gone home after being out of the country and had a scuffle with his brother, before overpowering him and fleeing to get help.

Daniel was also arrested but released unconditionally the next day. Alpha was later charged.

Evidence overwhelming, judge says

The Crown argued Henry killed his parents in their apartment on Sept. 19, 2022. Court heard that after weeks of being estranged from his family, Henry went to their home that morning. 

The Crown said that evidence showed he used a knife to stab his parents between 11:30 a.m. and 12:20 p.m. Security footage showed him coming and going from the apartment in the days following their deaths.

The Crown also argued that he used his mother's key fob to get in and out of the building and her cell phone to procure the services of an escort on the night his parents were killed. He was seen purchasing gas, which the Crown alleged he used to douse his parents' bodies in after placing them in the bathtub at the apartment.

The judge said the evidence against Henry was overwhelming.

Defence blamed brother for parents' deaths

The defence argued Henry did not commit the murders but that Daniel did. Court heard Daniel lived with his parents in the apartment, worked as a flight attendant and had been on a trip to Japan before the deaths.

He returned home in the early morning of Sept. 20 and went to his parent's home on Sept. 21 after meeting with friends.

The Crown argued that Henry attacked Daniel with a knife when he walked through the door but he was able to take the knife from him. Daniel then fled the apartment with a knife and called 911 from a nearby gas station.

Henry told police that he was attacked by his brother after Daniel had stabbed his parents to death.

In the end, the judge determined that Henry committed the unlawful acts of killing and trying to kill.

The judge has set the next court appearance for Jan. 17. It is expected that the defence will make an argument for Henry to be found not criminally responsible and ask the judge to have Alpha Henry examined by a forensic psychiatrist.