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Mother Testifies in Toronto Double‑Murder Trial as Expert Says Accused Was Not Feigning Illness

The court now weighs an NCR claim that turns on whether Richard Edwin’s schizophrenia met the legal test at the time of the 2022 shootings.

Overview

  • Edwin has pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder while pursuing a not criminally responsible defence tied to a longstanding schizophrenia diagnosis.
  • Forensic psychologist Dr. Stephanie Penney told the court she found no evidence of malingering during her March 13, 2025 assessment and observed symptoms consistent with psychosis.
  • Penney emphasized her findings apply only to the 2025 evaluation and she did not assess Edwin’s mental state during the April 2022 offences.
  • Edwin’s mother testified he was paranoid, reported hearing voices years earlier, and once asked her to help with a gun licence application before the pandemic, which she refused.
  • Agreed facts state Edwin admitted fatally shooting strangers Kartik Vasudev and Elijah Mahepath in separate incidents near Toronto’s Sherbourne area in April 2022, and police later seized five firearms from his home; a defence psychiatrist is expected to testify next week with the Crown to call an opposing expert.