TORONTO — A lawyer for a woman charged in an apparently unprovoked fatal stabbing in Toronto's financial district says his client has been declared unfit to stand trial.
Rohinie Bisesar faces one count of first-degree murder in the death of Rosemarie Junor, a 28-year-old newlywed who was stabbed at a Shoppers Drug Mart in Toronto's popular underground PATH network of shops in December 2015.
Forensic psychiatrist Dr. Ian Swayze testified on Monday that Bisesar has a mental illness consistent with schizophrenia and experiences delusions, auditory hallucinations, disordered thoughts and paranoia.
Swayze told the jury that because of her condition, Bisesar could not effectively conduct her own defence or instruct a defence counsel — one of the requirements of being fit to stand trial.
Fitness also requires that a person understand why they are in court and who the major players are, such as the judge and prosecutor.
Bisesar has said in court that she hears unseen people speaking to her and controlling her actions, and that Junor is not really dead.
