Ontario Review Board considers future of Kitchener man who killed wife, blew up home
An Ontario Review Board hearing was held at the Southwest Centre for Forensic Mental Health Care in St. Thomas on Thursday to consider the future of Udo Haan.
In August 2018, Haan killed his wife Edra and caused an explosion that levelled their Sprucedale Crescent home in Kitchener.
“The Ontario Review Board is an oversight body; it's a quasi legal process, and their role is to oversee the care that we provide. They issue a disposition for our patients each year that determines what our patients are allowed to do,” Director of Southwest Centre for Forensic Mental Health Care Kent Lewis said.
The aftermath of the explosion at Sprucedale Crescent. The house was completely destroyed, and the adjacent homes also caught fire. (WRPS / Twitter)
The lawyers at Haan’s hearing all agree that he is still considered a significant threat.
But his psychiatrist told those in attendance Haan now has a diagnosis of an unspecified bipolar disorder and had recently started on lithium.
The hospital lawyer, crown, and Haan’s lawyer are all suggesting the same thing.
“A detention in the hospital which keeps him here but authorizes the hospital to grant him passes up to five days in the community, as well as potentially to live outside the hospital in the community, subject to hospital supervision, when Mr. Haan demonstrates to the hospital that he’s medication compliant, that his symptoms are stabilized and that he’s ready, and not before,” Haan’s lawyer Steve Gehl said.
Haan has been allowed to spend some time in the community over the last year.
“Up until now, he has very limited access on day passes outside of the physical building in the hospital, which he has exercised and exercised appropriately,” Gehl said.
Udo Haan's new diagnosis
The hospital’s director said that their goal is always to help patients return to the community but it can take many years.
“We have a strong risk assessment process and we provide excellent mental health care. And so we gradually move people forward as they progress in their recovery and we help them ultimately reintegrate back into the community only when it’s the right time,” Lewis said.
The panel will release their decision, called a disposition, in about a week. More details into the reasons will follow a few weeks after that.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
NEW 'She was waiting for you': The story of how a B.C. man found his birth mother in England
After his adopted parents died, Dave Rogers set out to learn more about his birth mother. DNA results and a little help from friendly strangers would put him on a path to a small town in England.
India's foreign minister reacts to murder charges, claims Canada welcomes criminals
India's Foreign Affairs Minister accused Canada of welcoming criminals from his country in response to the RCMP's recent arrests in a homicide that has roiled tensions between the two countries.
15-year-old boy stabbed in Ottawa on Thursday dies
A 15-year old boy who was critically injured after a stabbing in Nepean on Thursday has died of his injuries, Ottawa's English public school board said Sunday.
Dash cam catches moment suspected drunk driver hits parked car, sends it careening into North Shore flower shop
Police say it’s fortunate no one was injured or killed in a collision at North Vancouver’s Park and Tilford shopping centre Saturday evening that sent one vehicle careening into a flower shop and another into a set of concrete barriers outside a Winners store.
Actor Bernard Hill, of 'Titanic' and 'Lord of the Rings,' has died at 79
Actor Bernard Hill, who delivered a rousing cry before leading his people into battle in 'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' and went down with the ship as the captain in 'Titanic,' has died.
'A tiny city:' Pro-Palestinian campus protesters organize for another week
Pro-Palestinian activists have set up tents at universities in Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver and Montreal, following a wave of similar protests at campuses in the United States linked to the Israel-Hamas war.
Lawsuit against Meta asks if Facebook users have right to control their feeds using external tools
Do social media users have the right to control what they see — or don't see — on their feeds?
A Holocaust survivor will mark that history differently after the horrors of Oct. 7
This year's Holocaust Remembrance Day, which begins on Sunday evening in Israel, carries a heavier weight than usual for many Jews around the world.
Princess Anne lays wreath at Battle of Atlantic ceremony; honours late Queen
Princess Anne saluted Canadian veterans and current forces members and honoured her late mother during separate ceremonies Sunday in Victoria as she wrapped up a three-day British Columbia West Coast royal visit.