Man accused of killing girl unfit for trial, lawyer says

NEW WESTMINSTER — A defence lawyer says his client’s ongoing psychosis makes him unfit to stand trial for the murder of a high school girl in Abbotsford.

Martin Peters said Gabriel Klein can’t meaningfully participate in a trial because he has reported hearing voices and has difficulty communicating because of his disordered thinking.

Peters said the stress of a trial could cause Klein’s mental state to deteriorate further.

Klein is accused of the second-degree murder of 13-year-old Letisha Reimer and the aggravated assault of a second Grade 9 female student who were attacked in the lobby of Abbotsford Senior Secondary in November 2016.

Klein was 21 when he was arrested. He did not speak or respond to questions in his first three court appearances.

“Mr. Klein submits that his inability to meaningfully participate in his trial renders him unfit,” Peters said in B.C. Supreme Court hearing Thursday.

Justice Heather Holmes is expected to rule today on whether Klein is mentally fit to face the allegations at trial.

Crown lawyer Rob Macgowan told the judge that “if the court accepts evidence establishing on a balance of probabilities that there will be times during the trial when the accused is not likely fit, the Crown is essentially not opposed to a finding that he is not fit.”

On Wednesday, Klein’s psychiatrist, Dr. Marcel Hediger, testified that he believes his patient has schizophrenia and is “actively psychotic.”

Hediger said Klein thinks the CIA is following and trying to kill him, and that corrections staff are trying to poison him through his medication.

The psychiatrist said he did two assessments of Klein and determined that at those times, the man was “not unfit” to stand trial.

But he noted the man’s mental state is variable and very fragile, and his psychosis had worsened in the past two weeks.