By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

Accused knew killing Red Deer woman was wrong despite psychosis: Crown

Jun 14, 2018 | 4:31 PM

A Red Deer man should be held criminally responsible for his actions, the Crown prosecutor urged during her closing arguments in the second-degree murder trial of 27-year-old Jordan Koizumi.

Dominique Mathurin presented her reasoning Thursday that while Koizumi did indeed have a mental disorder, there must have been a moral compass at play when he stabbed 50-year-old Tina Pfeiffer to death in her West Park bedroom the morning of Oct. 27, 2016.

Mathurin said evidence of that awareness of morality was shown during Koizumi’s arrest when he  said, “I feel avenged.”

She also pointed to numerous admissions of guilt from Koizumi heard during the two-hour recording of his arrest and booking at the RCMP detachment.

According to Section 16 (1) of the Criminal Code of Canada, someone suffering from a mental disorder must be found incapable of “appreciating the nature and quality of the act or omission or of knowing that it was wrong,” before they can be held not criminally responsible for their actions.

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Mathurin also stated that defence witness Dr. Yuri Metelitsa, who conducted a psychiatric assessment on Koizumi following Pfeiffer’s death, glossed over the fact that on multiple occasions he did in indeed express remorse for his actions to medical professionals at multiple points following his arrest.

“She was my friend, she offered me a place to stay for $400 dollars per month without a damage deposit, she was just there to help me, she gave me rides to get groceries. I wanted to be on good terms with her,” Koizumi was quoted as saying. “She didn’t deserve to die, she was nice to me every night I stayed with her. This is the last thing I wanted to do.”

Metelitsa testified Wednesday that despite anti-psychotic medication successfully quelling some of Koizumi’s symptoms, he never showed much in the way of emotion from the time the two first met.

Defence Lawyer Patrick Edgerton, arguing that Koizumi should not be held criminally responsible on the basis of prolonged psychosis and a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, said the system failed both Tina Pfeiffer and his client.

“Some people treated him with scorn, other people had an understanding. He was often treated more as a drug user and a nuisance than as a sick man,” Edgerton told court. “Tina-Marie Pfeiffer is the ultimate victim here. By all accounts, (she was) a very nice woman – a woman with compassion and caring.”

Edgerton went on to say the preferred option is neither a conviction nor acquittal, but rather for Koizumi to be detained for treatment.

He also pointed to a Community Treatment Order put on Koizumi in the spring of 2015, something Dr. Metelitsa said is not done lightly. CTOs, court heard, are enforced when a patient has little to no insight into the severity of their medical condition. Prior to the CTO, Koizumi began refusing the injections which had – two years earlier – set off a span of stability. The CTO for an oral medication was later cancelled due to further non-compliance.

Justice Adam Germain will give his verdict in Red Deer Court of Queen’s Bench Friday morning.