Vernon man found unfit to stand trial for murder

A Vernon, B.C., man who is charged in a 2017 murder will not stand trial, due to significant brain damage caused by a series of strokes.

“Yesterday the court concluded that (Richard) Fairgrieve is unfit to stand trial,” a representative of the BC Prosecution Service said in a statement. “He will be returned to the jurisdiction of the Review Board.”

The B.C. Review Board is an independent tribunal established by the Criminal Code of Canada that holds hearings to make and review orders or any accused where a court has rendered a verdict of not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder or unfit to stand trial.

2:03 Vernon man accused of murder found fit to stand trial

It is designed to take into account the safety of the public, the mental condition of the accused, the reintegration of the accused into society, and the other needs of the accused.

Fairgrieve is accused in the killing of Willy Bartz in June 2017. He was arrested 18 months after Bartz’s body was found, but since that time he’s suffered multiple strokes that have impaired his speech and general cognition.

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In 2020, as a result of the strokes, he was found unfit to stand trial but last November that decision was reversed in a BC Review Board hearing, at which he expressed a desire to go to trial and plead not guilty.

This month, the hearing looking into Fairgrieve’s competency was held and BC Supreme Court Justice Alison Beames had to look at “meaningful participation” and whether Fairgrieve would have the ability to communicate with counsel, should there be a trial, or understand the evidence given. She found him unable to do so.