A man found not criminally responsible for killing a stranger after consuming marijuana, Percocet, cocaine and beer has been approved for a 90-day residential treatment program even though he still presents “a significant threat to the safety of the public.”
Background of the Case
Bradley House, who has been diagnosed with opioid use disorder and substance-induced psychotic episodes, was found not criminally responsible on a charge of second-degree murder due to a mental disorder in January 2024. The charge stemmed from the February 2022 stabbing death of Niagara winemaker Paul Pender in Selkirk, Ontario.
According to a recent decision from the Ontario Review Board (ORB), House had two “substance use relapses” in the past year while detained at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton. These relapses prevented him from obtaining “indirectly supervised community passes.”
ORB Decision and Treatment Plan
The ORB's May 29 decision stated that given the recency of the relapse into substance use, where drugs were obtained on supervised community outings, a detention order allowing House to enter a treatment facility was necessary. The board noted that polysubstance use was the main contributing factor to the index offence.
The hospital team is aware of House’s therapeutic needs and his Indigenous heritage. His psychiatrist is exploring appropriate options for Indigenous-based counselling and addictions treatment, as recommended in the Gladue Report.
Gladue principles, set out in a Supreme Court of Canada decision, require sentencing judges to consider the unique circumstances of Indigenous offenders to address their over-representation in Canada’s prisons. These principles also apply to ORB proceedings.
Details of the Offence
The ORB heard that House consumed oxycodone, cocaine and alcohol on Feb. 3, 2022, while working on a home renovation in Selkirk. At work, he complained of back and neck pain and asked a co-worker for a massage. During the massage, he began throwing punches at the co-worker, then ran out the back door, jumped a fence, and ran down the road.
About 1.5 kilometres away, Pender, his partner, and her father were sitting down to dinner at a cottage. House, a stranger to them, appeared at the door without a coat, looking distraught and bleeding from his mouth and head. He claimed he had fallen and poked a stick in his ear that broke off.
Pender found tweezers to help House while his spouse called 911. The stick did not exist; House was suffering from a psychotic delusion. While Pender tried to assist, House grabbed a kitchen knife, began digging in his ear, then swung the knife toward Pender. Pender ran out of the cottage, and House pursued him, resulting in the fatal stabbing.
Despite the severity of the offence and the ongoing threat, the ORB approved the treatment program, emphasizing the need for a structured environment and culturally appropriate care.
