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
Liberal MP says she's leaving politics over disrespectful dialogue, threats, misogyny
Liberal MP Pam Damoff says she won't run again in the next federal election, saying she has experienced misogyny, disrespectful dialogue in politics and threats to her life.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Eating disorders among youth skyrocketed during pandemic and so did associated costs, report finds
The number of young people experiencing eating disorders surged during the height of the pandemic as the social and economic costs skyrocketed too, a new pan-Canadian report has found.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Ont. woman who faked pregnancy to defraud doulas arrested again on similar charges
Victims of a Brantford, Ont., woman who was sentenced to house arrest earlier this year for defrauding and deceiving doulas say they’re not surprised she’s been apprehended again on similar charges.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.