At the time she killed her five-year-old son, a Saskatoon woman diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenic still knew the act was “morally wrong” and that it would be viewed that way by society, a Crown prosecutor said during closing arguments at the murder trial of Kellie Dawn Johnson.
Justice Neil Gabrielson will have to decide if Johnson, 38, is guilty of first-degree murder or should be found not criminally responsible for killing her son, Jonathan Vetter.
Defence lawyer Leslie Sullivan argued Johnson was in the midst of a psychotic episode when she slit her son’s throat on Jan. 4, 2014 while her other son slept in the same bedroom. She then took a taxi to Royal University Hospital, where she told a nurse that she was hallucinating and may have hurt her son because she was trying to save him from going to hell, according to an agreed statement of facts.
Johnson’s state of mental health was steadily declining, Sullivan said. She had been suffering from schizophrenia for quite some time and stopped taking her medication about a month before the killing, court heard.
Sullivan said her client believed she was saving her son from a “terrible fate.” Johnson told police that an evil “woman” would stalk her and threaten to kill her and her two sons. She was convinced that if she died, her youngest son would be molested, then become a molester, and therefore go to hell.
On the night of the murder, Johnson felt she was left with no choice when the “woman” told her she was going to die, Sullivan argued. She said Johnson did the only thing she believed she could do — send her son to heaven by killing him first.
“She is living in a different world than we are,” Sullivan said. “She believed she was doing the right thing.”
Crown prosecutor Brian Hendrickson said there’s no doubt that Johnson was suffering from schizophrenia, but cited testimony from a psychiatrist who said it wouldn’t necessarily diminish her ability to reason.
He argued the fact that Johnson bought and hid a knife, hesitated at her son’s bedside before killing him, apologized and then ran away proves she knew what she did was morally wrong — if not in her own eyes, then at least in the eyes of society.
Hendrickson said Johnson’s actions before, during and after the murder also demonstrate an ability to make rational decisions. He also pointed to evidence that Johnson was able to ignore what the “woman” told her in the past.
Under the Criminal Code of Canada, no person is criminally responsible for an act committed while suffering from a mental disorder that renders the person incapable of knowing it was wrong. A forensic psychiatrist who examined Johnson after the murder, and testified at her trial, said Johnson’s case would fit that criteria.
Instead of serving a prison sentence, people who are found not criminally responsible are sent to a forensic psychiatric hospital where they are assessed and treated. A review board decides if and when the person can be released back into the community.
Justice Gabrielson reserved his decision. The case is expected to return to court on Oct. 28.
— with files from Hannah Spray
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