The Crown called Thomas Hamp, the man facing second-degree murder in the death of his longtime girlfriend Emily Sanche in February 2022, back to the stand this week following a mental health report on whether Hamp would be considered not criminally responsible for killing Sanche.
On Monday, the court heard criminal psychiatrist Dr. Shabehram Lohrasbe’s report that found Hamp not criminally responsible under S. 16 of the Criminal Code. On Tuesday, the Crown called Hamp to return to the stand for cross-examination.
In the report obtained by Global News, Dr. Lohrasbe found Hamp was “acutely and severely psychotic during the early morning hours of 20 February 2022.”
His findings also included that Hamp “has a history of OCD and of Cannabis Use Disorder, each of which, independently, has been associated with the subsequent diagnosis of a psychotic disorder.” And during 2021 through until 2022 “Hamp suffered from psychotic symptoms that are within the realm of the Schizophrenia spectrum of disorders.”
Lohrasbe believed Psychosis was the dominant factor in the violence and that “his capacity to ‘know’ that his actions were wrong, in the real world, was severely impaired.”
Lohrasbe said this was a unique case as the mental state of Hamp was deeply documented by Sanche and her cousin Cathrine Sanche leading up to the incident.
Lohrasbe interviewed Hamp three times and used court documents and those from an assessment at the Saskatchewan hospital forensic services in North Battleford for the report.
The Crown requested Hamp be brought back to the stand to speak on the report and Lohrasbe’s testimony. However, the defence requested Hamp only get questioned on the report.
The court granted the request for Hamp to take the stand, noting the Crown was unable to previously complete cross-examination due to the report not being available until a later date.
But the court did agree the questioning should only be on the report and not the testimony.
Hamp was questioned on his cannabis use before the incident and when the thought of killing Sanche came into his head.
Hamp told the court he stopped using cannabis days before. He also said he couldn’t remember when the thought of killing Sanche came into his head, but remembers the thought being there.
Closing arguments are scheduled for Wednesday.
Hamp is charged with fatally stabbing Sanche in the early morning of Feb. 20, 2022. The court heard through a statement of agreed facts that Hamp grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed Sance in the upper left chest area.
Hamp then went to the bedroom and injured himself with a knife. When police arrived Hamp told them a stranger had broken into their apartment, stabbing them both.
He later recanted his statement.