A judge has found Blake Schreiner guilty of second-degree murder in the death of his partner, Tammy Brown.
Justice Ron Mills handed down his decision Thursday morning in Saskatoon’s Court of Queen’s Bench.
Mills rejected the defence’s argument that Schreiner was not criminally responsible, but found Schreiner did not plan Brown’s death.
He said he put more “emphasis and reliability” on entries Schreiner made in journals before Brown’s death than entries afterward.
Mills said the journal entries before Brown’s death included details on his magic mushroom use, and said the latter was an apparent attempt to document his declining mental health.
“I have great difficulty with Mr. Schreiner’s testimony in court” and his psychiatric assessments, Mills said.
“Mr. Schreiner has not established on a balance of probability that he was suffering from a mental disorder at the time he killed Tammy Brown.”
Schreiner admitted to stabbing and killing his common-law spouse in the early morning hours of Jan. 29, 2019. Brown was stabbed approximately 80 times, an autopsy found.
Schreiner had pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.
During closing arguments, Crown prosecutor Melodi Kujawa argued that what appears to be a complex case can be summed up simply: “This is simply another tragic domestic homicide in the context of a marital breakdown.”
Kujawa said Brown’s death came on the heels of Schreiner’s unemployment, drinking and drug use spanning several years. He was concerned about losing custody of his two young children and decided that if he couldn’t have the kids, neither could Brown, according to the Crown.
Defence lawyer Brad Mitchell argued that Schreiner should be found not criminally responsible because he had a mental illness at the time of the killing.
Defence witness Dr. Mansfield Mela diagnosed Schreiner with schizotypal personality disorder, a condition on the schizophrenia spectrum, characterized by symptoms including magical thinking, odd ideas and perception issues.
A Saskatchewan Hospital assessment team did not diagnose Schreiner with the condition.