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
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6891873.1715976495!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Serial sexual offender linked to unsolved 1970s homicides of four Calgary girls, women
An investigation into unsolved historical homicides from the 1970s has linked the deaths of two girls and two young women in and around Calgary to a now-deceased serial offender.
Woman with liver failure rejected for a transplant after medical review highlights alcohol use
For nearly three months, Amanda Huska has been in an Ontario hospital, part of it on life support, because of severe liver failure. Her history of alcohol use is getting in the way of her only potential treatment: a liver transplant.
Video appears to show Sean 'Diddy' Combs beating singer Cassie in hotel hallway in 2016
Security video aired by CNN appears to show Sean 'Diddy' Combs physically assaulting singer Cassie in a Los Angeles hotel hallway in 2016.
Scottie Scheffler isn't the first pro golfer to be arrested during a tournament
Scottie Scheffler's arrest hours before his second-round tee time at the PGA Championship in Louisville, Kentucky, will go down as one of the most shocking in professional golf history. It certainly wasn't the first, though.
B.C. man 'attacked suddenly' by adult grizzly near Alberta border: RCMP
A B.C. man is recovering from multiple injuries after he was "attacked suddenly" by an adult grizzly bear near Elkford Thursday afternoon.
Anglers reel in 3.5-metre-long tiger shark off coast of Florida: 'She found my bait'
A group of fishers said it took roughly 20 minutes to reel in this 3.5-metre-long tiger shark off the coast of Florida.
Australia's richest woman seeks removal of her portrait from exhibition
Art is subjective. And while many artists long to share their work with the world, there's no guarantee that the audience will understand it, or even like it.
Canadian convicted of attacking Nancy Pelosi's husband with a hammer sentenced to 30 years
The man convicted of attempting to kidnap then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and attacking her husband with a hammer was sentenced Friday to 30 years in prison.
Israeli military finds bodies of 3 Gaza hostages killed at music festival
Israeli military says its troops in Gaza found the bodies of three Israeli hostages taken by Hamas during its Oct. 7 attack, including German-Israeli Shani Louk.