A hearing is underway to determine whether a Chemainus man should be found not criminally responsible for the murder of 20-year-old Derek Descoteau six years ago, because he was suffering from a mental disorder.
In November, Colin John pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of Descoteau and the aggravated assault of Descoteau’s girlfriend, Janelle Guyatt, on May 20, 2016.
The hearing began Monday in B.C. Supreme Court in Duncan and is expected to continue for several days.
In order for John to be found not criminally responsible by reason of a mental disorder under the Criminal Code, a judge must conclude that he was suffering a mental disorder that made him incapable of appreciating the nature and quality of his crime, or of understanding that it was wrong.
The court has heard that Descoteau and Guyatt were watching a movie in his father’s home in Chemainus when a man suddenly burst in and stabbed them. Descoteau died on the way to hospital. Guyatt was stabbed five times and seriously injured.
John was at the scene of the attack when police arrived and was quickly arrested. His guilty plea was accepted on the basis of an agreed statement of facts, filed as an exhibit, but not read into the court record.
The judge ordered that a presentence report with a psychiatric component be prepared to assist at sentencing.
