Forensic Psychiatrist Evaluation Kyle Sequeira Lynette and Francis Sequeira, who are charged with second-degree murder of their parents, believe Kyle's motives for killing them were based on reality, not mental illness.
Dr. Lisa Ramshaw disagreed with defense forensic psychiatrist Dr. Derek Palandi, who testified Tuesday that Kyle suffers from Mental disorder At the time, he was suffering from schizophrenia and was unable to recognize the error of his actions.
The 29-year-old is believed to have beaten his parents to death with a golf club at their home in Scarborough between September 4 and 5, 2021. But Kyle has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder. Defense attorney Marcus Bohnfreund argued that his client is not criminally responsible due to mental disorder.
Ramshaw testified that based on Kyle's statements, he was furious and had smoked marijuana hours before the incident and then drank two airplane-sized bottles of wine. She said alcohol would have exacerbated his anger.
It is understood that a few weeks before Kyle's parents were murdered, Kyle's mother called the police after an argument with a female friend at Kyle's home. Kyle was arrested and charged with assaulting a police officer, among other charges.
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Kyle is under house arrest with his parents as sureties after being charged with attempted murder for stabbing a friend 13 times in June 2019. The court heard a preliminary hearing on the attempted murder charge was set to begin two days after he killed his parents. His parents are expected to be called as prosecution witnesses.
“When asked about the homicides, Mr. Sequeira explained that he was ‘just mad at his parents for calling the police – so when I get mad I wake them up from their sleep and beat them to death with a golf club.’ His anger has only intensified since he was released from prison,” Ramshaw wrote in the report.
Ramshaw said that while Kyle may have schizophrenia, she could not diagnose him with the disorder and she did not believe he was mentally ill at the time of the crimes.
She also admitted that Kyle knew hitting her parents with a golf club would cause their deaths and that his actions were wrong.
She told Judge Anne Molloy: “There is no evidence whatsoever to suggest that he did not know it was wrong or could not have known it was wrong.”
In the diagnosis, Palandi mentioned that Kyle told him that a voice told him to “just do it” when he killed someone.
Ramshaw said she thought it might have just been an “inner voice” rather than a hallucination, adding that there was no evidence Kyle was hallucinating at the time.
The court heard that Kyle had been on antipsychotic medication since being diagnosed with schizophrenia by a psychiatrist at Toronto's East Detention Centre while he was being held on suspicion of murdering his parents.
Closing arguments will be made on Thursday.
