Man who killed father in Halifax apartment found not criminally responsible
A 21-year-old man from Labrador has been found not criminally responsible for the January 2016 stabbing death of his father at the Halifax apartment they shared.
Frank John Lampe, 58, was found dead in the Clayton Park apartment building on the evening of Jan. 21, 2016. Elias Frank Joseph Lampe was arrested at a bus stop a short distance away, covered in blood, and charged with second-degree murder.
Elias Lampe had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 2014. According to testimony at a hearing in Nova Scotia Supreme Court, everything seemed fine until about a month before the stabbing, when he appeared out of sorts. He had not been taking his prescribed medication.
"Mr. Lampe's mental health was deteriorating," Crown prosecutor Sean McCarroll said outside court. "And there was indication of that, but the degree of the deterioration, he wasn't as forthcoming as one would hope."
'Good and gentle person'
Court was told Frank Lampe was sitting at his computer table when, suddenly and without warning, his son stabbed him in the neck. He died from blood loss.
"He was a good and gentle person and a caring and involved father," Justice Patrick Murray said Friday.
Frank Lampe was Elias's principal caregiver. Frank Lampe had moved from Labrador, as had his son, and the two had been living together in Halifax for about six months before the attack.
Elias Lampe told his psychiatrist that he thought by stabbing his father, he would send him back to the past so he could start again. The attack was described like turning a knob on a time machine. Elias Lampe intended to send himself back to the past as well and had stabbed himself prior to his arrest.
'This case is a tragedy'
He was assessed by two forensic psychiatrists before Murray was satisfied he met the criteria for a finding of not criminally responsible.
Lampe has been returned to the East Coast Forensic Hospital in Dartmouth where he has been held since his arrest. He is now under the care and control of Nova Scotia's Criminal Code Review Board, which will hold regular reviews of his case.
"I hope, just like anybody would hope, that he's able to get to a state where he's well again," McCarroll said.
"I don't know if that's possible, I don't know how long that will take. But as I said before, I consider this case a tragedy."
