Man who set woman on fire aboard Toronto bus not criminally responsible for her death: lawyers
The man charged with killing a woman by setting her on fire on a TTC bus two years ago admitted to causing her death, but should not be found criminally responsible due a diagnosis of schizophrenia, prosecutors and defence counsel argued at the outset of his trial in Toronto.
Led into the courtrooms in handcuffs on Monday morning, Tenzin Norbu pleaded not guilty to the charge of first-degree murder in front of Superior Court Justice Maureen Forestell, presiding over the matter without a jury. Norbu was arrested and charged with the attempted murder of Nyima Dolma in June 2022, shortly after he set her on fire aboard a bus at Kipling Station in west Toronto.
Dolma and Norbu were strangers to one another at the time of the offence.
According to an agreed statement of facts, Dolma, on her way to work as a caregiver, was sitting near the back of the bus when Norbu boarded and stood behind her. In an interaction that lasted minutes, Norbu, who immigrated to Canada in 2008, asked the woman if she was Tibetan before removing a mason jar of lighter fluid from his backpack, dousing her in it, and igniting the substance, the court heard during the Crown's opening statements. She suffered burns to 60 per cent of her body, covering her face, neck, arms, and legs.
The incident was captured in its entirery on TTC surveillance footage but was not tendered as evidence in the case to protect against further collateral trauma.
After 18 days in hospital, Dolma died on July 5, 2022. She was 28 years old. At that time, police upgraded Norbu's charge to first-degree murder.
Police say 28-year-old Nyima Dolma, pictured, died of her injuries in hospital July 5 after being set on fire by a stranger at Kipling Subway Station on June 17, 2022. (Handout /Toronto Police)
On Monday, both Crown prosecutors and Norbu’s lawyers asked Justice Forestell to find him not criminally responsible for Dolma’s death, arguing that a “long-standing” psychotic state rendered him incapable of fully understanding what he’d done.
Alina Iosif, a forensic psychiatrist who reviewed years worth of Norbu’s medical records before assessing him, told the court she believed he suffered from schizophrenia when he attacked Dolma, and that he had displayed psychotic behaviour for nearly a decade prior to the offence. Norbu had likely been misdiagnosed with depression years earlier and was medicated as such, she said.
Norbu’s delusions, Iosif testified, included ongoing preoccupations with Tibetan politics, fire, and his sexuality, and, on several occasions, he revealed to doctors a desire to light himself on fire, she said.
“I see these themes as almost obsessional,” she testified. “The cornerstone of these themes is anchored in psychosis.”
Lawyers for Norbu did not call any evidence following Iosif’s testimony but made a joint submission that their client be found not criminally responsible.
“Mr. Norbu suffered from a longstanding diagnosis of schizophrenia,” Crown attorney Brady Donohue told the court. “There is clear evidence that he was delusional, psychotic, disorganized and for that reason, he could not understand that his act was wrong.”
In a prepared statement read out loud to the court, Dolma’s sister called the day of the attack “the darkest day of her life.”
“She had a whole life ahead of her,” she said. “I can’t put into words the pain, suffering, trauma I had to go through.”
TTC Supervisor Cameron Jackson, who tried to help Dolma after she ran from the bus and onto the Kipling platform, also gave a statement in which he said the incident still serves as a “stark reminder of the fragility of life.”
“Every interaction is tinged with a sense of detachment,” Jackson said from the witness stand. “As I grapple with the barrage of memories, I replay every moment of the incident in a desperate attempt to decipher what I could have done differently.”
Justice Forestell is scheduled to hand down her decision on Tuesday.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Hezbollah confirms its leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike
Lebanon's Hezbollah group confirmed on Saturday that its leader and one of its founders, Hassan Nasrallah, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut the previous day.
Dozens dead and millions without power after Helene's deadly march across southeastern US
Hurricane Helene caused dozens of deaths and billions of dollars of destruction across a wide swath of the southeastern U.S. as it raced through, and more than three million customers went into the weekend without any power and for some a continued threat of floods.
They hit it off on vacation but then he went silent. So she decided to pick up the phone
When a few weeks passed and Nana Prempeh still hadn’t heard from the guy she met on vacation, she turned to her friends for advice.
This 'old barn' is a monument to Canada's hockey roots, but its future is unlear
Windsor, N.S. has long-claimed to be the 'birthplace of hockey.' Local historians believe the game has roots in the town, located in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley.
'I love you but I hate you.' What to do when you can't stand your long-term partner
It's often said there is a thin line between love and hate, but is it OK to sometimes hate your long-term partner? If you ask actress Jamie Lee Curtis, it's practically necessary.
Scientists discover hidden ancient forest on treeless island
Trees haven't grown on the Falkland Islands for thousands of years. But tree trunks and branches preserved in peat suggest the islands were once home to a forest.
Vance exuded calm during a tense debate stage moment. Can he keep it up when he faces Walz?
When two of his Republican rivals for an Ohio Senate seat nearly came to blows on live statewide television two years ago, JD Vance appeared unimpressed.
Canada booking seats on flights out of Lebanon as violence escalates
Global Affairs Canada began booking blocks of seats on the few remaining commercial flights leaving Lebanon on Friday as it issued another urgent plea for any Canadians in the country to leave immediately.
Walz has experience on a debate stage pinning down an abortion opponent's shifting positions
Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz knows how to lean into abortion rights on the debate stage. He's done it before.