October 20, 2022, the trial for 21-year Alexander James Thorpe, accused of murdering his mother, 48-year-old Melanie Lowengot, proceeded. Her body was found in their Airdrie home on Jan. 13, 2022.

Thorpe\’s defence lawyers Balfour Der and David Roper pursued a defence that Mr. Thorpe was not criminally responsible (\”NCR\”), formerly known as the insanity defence. The prosecution and the defence collaboratively presented evidence as agreed facts. Justice Bensler presided over the case.

The court saw a video of Thorpe entering a car dealership just before 8 a.m. on Jan. 13, 2022. There was no audio on the video, but he could be seen walking naked and barefoot through service bays while holding his phone to his ear. The court heard he had dried blood on his head, hands, and feet and that a religious sermon could be heard coming from his phone. Court heard from dealership staff who said Thorpe was calm and polite when he spoke, saying little other than \”God sent me. God is here for you. He loves you all.\”

RCMP Const. Aaron Forsythe testified Thorpe said he had \”killed the devil that had possessed his mother.\” Officers found Lowengot dead in a back bedroom of an Airdrie apartment with wounds to her face and throat. The officer also testified that Thorpe had asked officers to shoot him. Forsythe said and his mood went between calm and crying.

Another video played in court showed Thorpe inside a police cruiser after officers apprehended him, appearing to talk to himself. He is heard to have said: \”I never came to kill anyone, Lord. Lord, I am so sorry for my sins. I came to love; I came to heal. I am a prophet. I am praying for a miracle right now. You would not put me through this for no reason.” When an officer arrives to ask him if he is doing OK, Thorpe replies \”Thank you for being so good to me. Jesus still loves you man.\” Alone in the cruiser again, he is heard repeatedly saying how much he loves his mother. When an officer arrives to ask him about what happened he says \”I love her so much, but I’ve been through hell. I heard him scream from the gates of Hell because he knew I was Jesus\”. Thorpe tells the officer, he killed Satan, who was possessing his mother. The officer asks how he did that, and Thorpe replies, \”I did it with a door frame and… a knife.” In another part of the video, he can be seen talking to himself about his love for his mother, saying \”I hope she’s there; I hope she’s there God.” When another RCMP officer returns to the car about 15 minutes later, he is calm and answers clearly. He is then told he will be charged with murder. In response, Thorpe thanks the officer for being nice to him, and offers to give a statement on what happened. He then says quietly but clearly \”I’m broken.\”

Throughout the proceedings, Thorpe cried quietly as most of the videos played.

\”There\’s no question that he was responsible for the injuries, there\’s no question about that,\” said his lawyer Balfour Der. \”We heard from friends and family right after the event, everyone is expressing disbelief that it could possibly have been this boy involved. Thorpe was an honours student at the University of British Columbia where he was pursuing a Bachelor of Commerce. He is otherwise – or was otherwise – a loving son, best friends with his mother and a bright young man, good at sports particularly good at school, Der said. It is difficult for us to explain the depth of this young man\’s despair. He is so remorseful and misses his mother, and there is this feeling of \’I cannot believe this happened. It\’s a very sad story, very tragic.\”

The court heard from Dr. Hashman, a forensic psychiatrist who has spent months assessing Mr. Thorpe. He opined that Thorpe was not criminally responsible for what occurred and that there are medical facts to support that he was suffering from a mental disorder that made him a completely different person.

Justice Bensler agreed with the submission of counsel and rendered a verdict Mr. Thorp was not criminally responsible in the death of his mother.

The above information was taken from  Bill Macfarlane CTV News Calgary Video Journalist, article: