The Alberta man accused of fatally stabbing a 13-year-old girl at an Abbotsford high school had alcohol and THC in his bloodstream during the attack, Crown’s final witness testified at the accused’s trial Friday.
Gabriel Klein has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and aggravated assault in the slaying of Letisha Reimer and the stabbing of her friend at Abbotsford Senior Secondary School on Nov. 1, 2016.
Forensic toxicology specialist Michael Rosland testified the combination of marijuana and presumed alcohol level would not produce mental confusion.
Based on the drinking pattern presented to Rosland by the defence, Klein would have been under the legal limit during the attack.
Neither side is debating whether Klein was the one who stabbed the two girls. Instead, the case pivots on what his mental state was at the time.
Past witnesses have described disturbing behaviour and comments from Klein following the stabbings.
One Abbotsford police officer who arrested Klein testified the suspect “had a stupefied look on his face and smirk,” giving him the impression Klein was high on drugs.
The officer also testified to multiple occasions where Klein banged his head on various surfaces, including a counter at the police detachment and the partition inside a police cruiser. At one point he had what appeared to be a violent seizure.
Surveillance video played to the court showed many of the incidents described by the officer, including the seizure.
A psychiatrist who assessed Klein four days after the attack said she asked the accused what happened at the school. Klein responded that he saw two girls, squinted his eyes and then “saw two monsters.”
He said he heard voices that said, “Kill, kill, kill,” according to the psychiatrist’s testimony.
Klein also told the psychiatrist his psychosis had been caused by cannabis laced with methamphetamine, then claimed it wasn’t the drugs.
The psychiatrist believed his shaking episodes were not seizures and his hallucinations didn’t fit with psychosis behaviour.
Klein has been diagnosed with schizophrenia, and other witnesses have said they saw Klein exhibit symptoms of the mental illness.
The defence is pursuing a case that Klein be found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder (NCRMD).
The trial is now on hold until Dec. 9. Before that date, the court is expected to receive the forensic psychiatrist’s mental health assessment of Klein, which will determine whether or not he is NCRMD.
Defence counsel Martin Peters tells Global News he expects Klein will testify.
— With files from Grace Ke