B.C. woman not criminally responsible for killing 12-year-old autistic boy

ROSSLAND, B.C. — A B.C. woman who said she thought killing a 12-year-old autistic boy would allow for the second coming of Christ has been found not criminally responsible for the slaying.

Kimberly Noyes, 43, who had been on trial for second-degree murder in the small southern B.C. community of Rossland, on Friday was found not criminally responsible for reason of mental disorder by B.C. Supreme Court Justice Mark McEwan.

The judge's lengthy verdict recounted evidence from the trial and case law to support his decision.

"In the circumstances of this case there were no witnesses to the immediate event," said McEwan. However, he determined that "there is no evidence of any rational basis for the killing."

"Taken all in all, I find it more than probably, indeed almost a certainty . . . that Ms. Noyes was suffering from a mental disorder" at the time of the killing, he said.

The 43-year-old woman admitted to killing her young neighbour, John Fulton, by stabbing him in the throat with a kitchen knife in her Grand Forks, B.C., home in August 2009.

Her mental illness was the sole issue before the court through the three-week trial.

The B.C. Supreme Court trial previously heard that Noyes thought she needed to "sacrifice" Fulton to allow for the second coming of Christ. The boy was found stabbed to death inside Noyes' rental suite.

Fulton's disappearance triggered a two-day, door-to-door search in Grand Forks by police and neighbours as they scoured the small border town of about 4,000 residents, located about 520 kilometres east of Vancouver.

Earlier this week, forensic psychiatrist Dr. Roy O'Shaughnessy testified Noyes told him she was "an evil woman with seven horns" and that she feared she would have to be cast into the desert with her children as punishment.

"On the day of Aug. 15 there is no question in my mind that her capacity to know right and wrong was impaired. . . . She could not rationally understand what she was doing," said O'Shaughnessy. "Her capacity to determine impulse and thought from reality was most impaired."

The court also heard from Noyes' sisters, who described the progression of her mental illness and previous violent attacks.

The judge ordered Noyes to remain in custody, but be transferred to the forensic psychiatric hospital in Port Coquitlam, B.C., pending an order from the B.C. Review Board.

Crown Counsel Phillip Seagram said he was satisfied with the decision.

"I think it was the correct result in law according to the facts and evidence that was put forth. By the end of (the case) I was in agreement with the defence. I was never made aware of any viable alternative motive," he said.

Noyes's defence lawyer, Deanne Gaffar, said that this was the outcome she had anticipated from the outset.

"The explanation of 'not criminally responsible' does not in any way diminish the devastation and the loss that has been suffered by the Fulton family," said Gaffar.

"It will be very difficult for many members of the community to understand perhaps this decision. But in no way should it be taken as not expressing the intense sorrow Ms. Noyes feels towards the Fulton family and what she has done."

Gaffar said she believe the tragedy could have been prevented.

"My sense is that there was perhaps a lot of understaffing, a lot of overloading of those who work in the mental-health profession in this region," Gaffar said. "The evidence demonstrated very clearly that all of the red flags were showing in July of 2009 — all of them."

Gaffar said the mental health professionals and caregivers were doing what they could, but Noyes's mental condition is "exceedingly complex" and the prescribed medication wasn't effective in dealing with her depression.

Neither Noyes' family or the Fultons wanted to make a statement, but Gaffar said that Noyes's family "is emotional and they are devastated about what happened to John Fulton."

"They have always experienced frustration in dealing with Ms. Noyes's mental illness but they love their sister and they have always been there for her and they will always be there for her," said the lawyer.

Gaffar said Noyes is receiving care and is better than she was, but that will be able to access more appropriate care at the forensic psychiatric unit.