Tirth Sehmbi, 39, an ex-RCMP officer in Alberta, was suffering from a mental disorder at the time of the July 10, 2010, slaying of Rajpinder Sehmbi and, as a result, was unable to appreciate the nature and quality of his actions or know right from wrong, ruled Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Vital Ouellette.
EDMONTON — A delusional Indo-Canadian cop who shot his wife dead because he believed she was cheating on him with an imaginary lover was found not criminally responsible last Friday.
Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Vital Ouellette ruled that Tirth Sehmbi, 39, an ex-RCMP officer in Alberta, was suffering from a mental disorder at the time of the July 10, 2010, slaying of Rajpinder Sehmbi and, as a result, was unable to appreciate the nature and quality of his actions or know right from wrong, reported Sun news.
The judge then ordered Sehmbi to be held at Alberta Hospital for a disposition hearing by the Review Board.
Calling the case tragic, Ouellette said the victim not only died a horrible death, but endured a nightmare while living for months with her mentally ill husband.
Four psychiatrists and one psychologist testified during the one-week hearing; three of them concluded Sehmbi should be found not criminally responsible for the killing and two concluded that he is criminally responsible.
All five agreed that Sehmbi was suffering psychotic delusions at the time, based on his mistaken belief that his wife was cheating on him with an “invisible man” who was living in their basement, but two of the Crown experts believed he was still able to appreciate the nature and quality of his actions and knew right from wrong.
Ouellette said he found the opinions of the two Crown psychiatrists to be “unreliable” because they were based on “erroneous facts” and “negative inferences that were unfairly drawn.”
And while the judge admitted there might still be several “unanswered questions and concerns,” he ruled the defence had shown, on the legal test of a balance of probabilities, as opposed to beyond a reasonable doubt, that Sehmbi was incapable due to his mental illness of appreciating his actions or knowing right from wrong.
According to agreed facts, Sehmbi used his RCMP service pistol to shoot his 29-year-old wife 16 times, including a shot to the forehead from very close range.
The former Stony Plain RCMP dog handler had cameras hidden throughout their south Edmonton home.
He had hired a private eye to do surveillance there and had an autistic neighbour come over and hide in a closet to listen for anything unusual.
He also paid $1,000 for his wife to take a polygraph test on the question of her alleged infidelity and didn’t believe it when it revealed she was being truthful when she said she wasn’t cheating on him.
It also says in the agreed facts that Sehmbi was ordered to see a psychologist four months before the slaying because his police work was suffering. However, the psychologist deemed him fit for duty.
Courtesy Sun News
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