Anne Marie Cannata describes her late brother Michael Ryan as a big teddy bear who had an infectious laugh.
Two months ago, Daniel Pestill, her brother’s killer, was found not criminally responsible after being on trial for first-degree murder due to a mental disorder. Cannata fears what could happen if Pestill is allowed back into the community.
“I just don’t see him doing what he’s supposed to do and he’s going to be out there and like I said, do it again,” Cannata told Global News.
On Jan. 21, 2022, Ryan, a Blue Line Taxi driver, picked up Pestill at LaQuinta Hotel in Oshawa where Pestill often stayed. At 3:08 p.m., Pestill called for a taxi to pick him up at the hotel. Ryan attended the call at 3:15 p.m. and Pestill entered the cab where Ryan asked him where he was going. Pestill answered Courtice and then said “why?” and “who are you?”
Ryan asked him to slam the door shut and he did before Pestill asked Ryan again who he was and said he looked “pretty peculiar for a cab driver.” Ryan asked why. Pestill then asked him if he was the secret society and told him to get the f— out of the city. Pestill threatened to kill him and told him to get out of Oshawa. Pestill’s voice became more enraged as he spoke and called Ryan disgusting and said he was going to shoot him. Pestill then started banging through the divider and put a gun to Ryan’s neck and hit him on the head with the gun while Ryan tried to push Pestill’s arm back.
Ryan was able to pull over and started to exit the vehicle when Pestill shot him in the back. He then put the gun in his backpack and said “f— you” and left. Ryan was found face-down by passersby.
An officer who arrived at the scene at 3:35 p.m. who began searching for the accused saw Pestill walking west on Athol Street. The officer got out of his car, drew his pistol and pointed it at the accused telling him not to move. Pestill was arrested without incident. He was handcuffed and taken into custody and seemed to understand what was happening.
The officer searched Pestill’s backpack for security reasons. He saw crystal meth and the handle of a pistol. There was a bullet in the chamber but no magazine. The magazine was found in the accused’s right jacket pocket.
While being transported back to the police station, Pestill made an utterance about a “secret society”. He then said that they picked “me up, forced me in … forced me into that friggin cab.” Similar utterances were made when Pestill was being booked at the police station. He told an officer that he had consumed some methamphetamines shortly after waking up at 10:00 a.m. but said he was not feeling the effects of the drugs. Pestill said that the secret society was chasing him and screwing up his body.
At trial, the Crown argued that Pestill was acting under a delusion at the time of the shooting, saying the issues were related to being high on drugs. The Crown also said the defence had not established on a balance of probabilities that Pestill was suffering from a mental disorder at the time.
The defence relied on the history of Pestill’s mental illness as documented by his family. His mother testified that after years of odd behaviour, she eventually took her son to the hospital in January 2020 and he agreed to go, but it was taking too long so he left and went home. She also recorded him a number of times acting strangely. Those recordings were entered as exhibits.
Justice Howard Leibovich delivered his verdict in August. “He made it a clear finding that Mr. Pestill was suffering from schizophrenia and that he actually was experiencing psychotic episodes at the time of the incident so he did not appreciate the moral wrongdoing of his action,” said Pestill’s lawyer Fariborz Davoudi.
Pestill is now under the jurisdiction of the Ontario Review Board (ORB) and Davoudi believes Pestill will get the treatment he needs for his underlying mental illness.
“To my knowledge, he had never been diagnosed with schizophrenia in the past. His family had tried to get him diagnosed. They took him to the emergency hospital in Oshawa a couple of times but the client was of the view that he was completely normal, there was nothing wrong with him and he does not need any psychiatric assistance nor does he need to take any medication. He thought everybody else has a problem, that he was fine,” said Davoudi.
“This was a situation where the victim was a good man, a good father, a good husband. He was out making a living for himself. It’s a terrible tragedy that we lost a good member of our community but at the same time, it was also very tragic in the sense that Mr. Pestill. a young man who at that age, in his 30s, is suffering from a terrible disorder that moved him to do such an horrific act,” Davoudi added.
Ryan’s sister is fearful that Pestill won’t follow his treatment because he does not believe he’s schizophrenic and therefore won’t take his medication. “I’m just a sister to find answers as to the person who murdered my brother got off,” Cannata said.
“He is going to hurt somebody again in his paranoid state. I believe he’s going to sell drugs again because he hasn’t ever done anything. There’s no job he’s ever held down and he’s in his 30s.”
Cannata vows to continue following Pestill through the ORB. “You don’t want another family to go through this. It’s just not fair and I know life isn’t fair. You just don’t want another family to go through this.”