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A North Vancouver man has been found not guilty of attempting to murder his father by stabbing him multiple times because he was suffering from a mental illness at the time of the attack, a provincial court judge has determined.
Duncan Anthony Ian Milne, 24, was found not guilty of attempted murder and assault causing bodily harm by Judge Joseph Galati Wednesday, Dec. 21, in North Vancouver provincial court.
Galati found Milne not guilty because his mental disorder at the time of the stabbing prevented him from knowing his acts were wrong.
Galati found on the day of the attack, Milne was suffering from a psychotic episode brought on by underlying schizophrenia.
Expert witness psychiatrist Dr. Shabehram Lohrasbe, who interviewed Milne and reviewed medical records regarding his mental illness dating back several years, testified on behalf of the defence.
Lohrasbe said Milne told him prior to the stabbing, on Aug. 26, 2022, he had taken a bus downtown and bought some "magic mushrooms" and mushroom capsules, then taken some before going back to the family home in North Vancouver.
At some point that evening, Milne developed negative thoughts about his father, Lohrasbe said, and grabbed a kitchen knife. When his father asked him why he had the knife, Milne replied, “’I’m going to kill you,’” Lohrasbe said.
Lohrasbe added Milne didn’t recall any previous thoughts of actually wanting to kill his father.
His father managed to take that knife away, but Milne got a second knife with a three-inch blade and confronted his father again, eventually stabbing him multiple times.
The father was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and eventually released.
Lohrasbe told the judge while not a lot is known about psylocibin mushrooms, “I’ve never had a case where the consumption of mushrooms was associated with subsequent violence,” he said.
Far more likely, the psychotic episode was caused by underlying schizophrenia, a condition consistent with Milne’s medical history and observations of family members over a period of time, he said. Milne had been prescribed anti-psychotic medications, but it is sometimes difficult to get symptoms fully under control, said Lohrasbe.
“There’s little question in this case, that at the time that he stabbed his father, Mr. Milne was acutely psychotic, which drastically impacted his knowledge of the wrongfulness of his actions,” said Lohrasbe.
“It would have made it very difficult for him to think clearly,” he said. “I don’t think he grasped the enormity of what he did.”
Family members are the most common target of violence from people with schizophrenia, Lohrasbe told the judge.
Milne, who has been in custody since the incident, will now appear before a psychiatric review board which will determine his next steps.
