Man is found not criminally responsible for sibling’s death

A man charged with stabbing his brother to death was suffering from a psychotic episode when the murder occurred, so is not criminally responsible, the Yukon Supreme Court decided Wednesday.

A man charged with stabbing his brother to death was suffering from a psychotic episode when the murder occurred, so is not criminally responsible, the Yukon Supreme Court decided Wednesday.

Stanley Aleekuk was arrested and charged with the second-degree murder of his brother Edmund last March 2. The two men’s sister had called the RCMP to say her brother had been stabbed.

When the police arrived, they found 20-year-old Edmund had been stabbed twice in the chest and once in the shoulder. He was rushed to Whitehorse General Hospital but died of his injuries two hours later.

Stanley Aleekuk had left the scene of the crime but went to the hospital at around 3:00 that same morning complaining of an asthma attack. Police spotted and arrested him there.

At that time, police reported that he was very agitated - yelling and screaming - and was convinced that the Central Intelligence Agency was after him and that a member of his family was a CIA agent.

Last April 2, Stanley Aleekuk pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to killing his brother.

At the time of his plea, both his lawyer, Gordon Coffin, and the Crown agreed that Aleekuk had committed the crime but was likely suffering from an extreme mental illness before, during and after the event.

Judge Karen Ruddy accepted the plea and ordered a psychological assessment of the 22-year-old Whitehorse man.

In the ensuing psychological assessment of Aleekuk, Dr. Shabehram Lohrasbe of the Whitehorse Correctional Centre found that: “When I interviewed (Aleekuk) he had been free of alcohol and drugs for some weeks, and had been treated with high doses of antipsychotic medication throughout that time.

“Yet he exhibited gross symptoms of psychosis, including hallucinations, delusions and thought disorder.”

According to the doctor, Aleekuk at times believes he is an alien, is being spoken to by aliens or is living on an alien planet.

This is common among people who suffer from schizophrenia as “it is preferable to being different by way of mental illness,” Dr. Lohrasbe wrote in his report.

He concluded that “schizophrenia has also rendered (Aleekuk) incapable of knowing the emotional and moral consequences of his actions.

Importantly, he continues to be disconnected from an understanding of actions and the impact of his actions on his own life and that of others.”

Supreme Court Justice Ron Veale accepted the doctor’s assessment and found Aleekuk not criminally responsible for his sibling’s death.

His case has been sent to the Yukon Review Board. The board, made up of legal and medical experts from Yukon, B.C. and Alberta; may decide that he be granted an absolute or conditional discharge or be held in custody in a designated hospital.

Aleekuk will remain in custody at least until his case is heard by the board.