A Langdon man has been found not criminally responsible (NCR) for killing his mother last year.
According to an NCR review, on May 26, 2023, Audra DeMolitor suffered "devastating blows to her head" from her son Scott and died from her injuries a few days later.
Justice Nancy Dilts says following his mother's death, DeMolitor was charged with manslaughter. He also admits that he caused the injuries that led to her death.
Dilts mentioned the decision she had to come to was whether DeMolitor was criminally responsible for his mother's death because of a mental disorder.
"That issue requires that I determine as a matter of law whether Mr. DeMolitor had a mental disorder at the time of the incident and whether that mental disorder rendered him incapable of appreciating the nature and quality of his actions or rendered him incapable of knowing that his actions were morally wrong," wrote Dilts.
Dilts found that DeMolitor was in an "acute psychotic state" due to chronic and long-standing Schizophrenia.
"I find that his acute psychosis rendered Mr. DeMolitor incapable of appreciating the nature and quality of his actions and incapable of knowing that they were morally wrong," added Dilts.
The NCR determination also stated that Demolitor's brother Adam provided a statement to RCMP as part of the Agreed Statement of Facts.
"It appears that in the days immediately prior to their mother’s tragic injuries, Mr. DeMolitor showed signs of paranoia and a disconnect with reality. Those signs included him saying that the ravens would not talk to him anymore because his mother made him kill one; and saying in a family text on May 25, 2023, that his father should prepare for mortal combat," added Dilts.
The Agreed Statement of Facts also included a transcript of the 911 recordings from the day DeMolitor attacked his mother. He called 911 around noon on May 26, 2023, and said his mother was badly hurt.
The dispatcher asked him what happened, and he said he couldn't remember the incident. The person called DeMolitor back after the call was disconnected and asked him what happened again.
DeMolitor said, “I started hearing voices and I blacked out.”
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According to the details, DeMolitor didn't know that he had hurt his mother. During the second call, the 911 operator asked him the last thing he remembered.
"Mr. DeMolitor said that he remembered thinking that his dad was going to kill him and that he heard voices. Later in the call, he said he was thinking his dad was not on vacation and was coming to kill him in the middle of the night," added Dilts.
The Langdon man was transported to the Peter Lougheed Hospital and only a few days later to the Foothills Hospital.
"DeMolitor was observed to be confused and without rational or coherent thoughts," says Dilts.
He was admitted to the Southern Alberta Forensic Psychiatry Centre on June 11, 2023.
Dr. Kenneth Hashman, the Medical Lead with Forensic Inpatient Services of the Department of Psychiatry for Southern Alberta Forensic Psychiatry Service testified that the clinical team found that DeMolitor was in a "state of psychosis."
"That psychosis manifested itself in disordered thought processes, delusional beliefs, and hallucinations," wrote Dilts.
"DeMolitor expressed paranoid delusions related to his concerns about certain behaviours of his ex-wife and mother and his belief that people, particularly his father, were after him," said Dr. Hashman.
Hashman mentioned that DeMolitor was talking with "an ancient voice" possibly telling him what to do.
In 2022, DeMolitor was diagnosed with Schizophrenia and Cannabis Use Disorder.
He was given two injections of anti-psychotic medications every month to control the disorder.
According to Dilts, DeMolitor has "no memory of the events that resulted in his mother’s death."
"Despite that, we know that in the second call with the 911 operator, Mr. DeMolitor was able to describe where he was and what he could see; he could describe his mother’s condition, where she was, whether she was bleeding, and how she was breathing. He was able to spell his name and follow directions, ultimately letting the first responders into the garage," added Dilts.
Dr. Hashman explained that a lack of recollection on the part of DeMolitor is consistent with severe psychosis.
On June 11, 2023, less than two weeks after the incident in Langdon, Hashman found DeMolitor to be in "an acute state of psychosis, suffering from delusions, hallucinations and disordered thoughts."
Hashman stated that due to a lack of memory of the incident, and his symptoms of disordered thoughts, delusions, and hallucinations, DeMolitor could "neither appreciate the nature, character and consequence of his actions at the time of the incident nor know that his actions were morally wrong."
DeMolitor is currently in hospital.