Thank you.
Bonjour. My name is Christine Russell. Exactly two and a half years ago, my husband, Toronto police sergeant Ryan Russell, was murdered. At 34 years of age, I became a widow. Our two-year-old son Nolan lost his dad, perhaps the biggest crime of all. I'm going to show you a picture of my husband Ryan.
On January 12, 2011, Ryan was on duty, doing what he loved most: serving and protecting the people of Toronto. That morning, a man named Richard Kachkar stole a snowplow and went on a rampage. Richard Kachkar deliberately aimed the snowplow at Ryan and his police cruiser and drove into him. Ryan was dressed in full police uniform, and his police car was marked and had the lights flashing.
Ryan was killed in the line of duty. He was left to die alone on Avenue Road, while Kachkar drove off, continuing his acts of violence. When the snowplow was finally stopped by the emergency task force, Kachkar attempted to continue driving. Police tasers did not stop him. The only thing that stopped him that morning was being shot. This is how dangerous and violent Kachkar is.
Richard Kachkar's actions that day have led me here to speak to you about my loss and my experience, the impact this has had on me and my family, and the legal process concerning a verdict of not criminally responsible.
My husband Ryan was murdered. I was told this in the hospital, without any friends or family at my side. I was not allowed to touch Ryan, as his body was a crime scene. My family was immediately thrown into the public spotlight, and they continue to be. My life was in chaos, as I had to plan a funeral and handle all of the affairs. I did not return to work, as I had to care for my own well-being and for our two-year-old son, who is now growing up without a father. My life was put on hold in waiting for the trial to begin. It consumed me and caused me to grieve again.
On February 4, 2013, Richard Kachkar's first-degree murder trial began. Throughout the seven-week trial, the life of the accused was in the forefront. I had to endure hearing my husband's voice for the very last time. The last words he ever spoke were: “He's coming at me, hold on.” Painfully, I had to view the dashboard video of the crash, and I had to bear the graphic description of his severe injuries and relive these moments as they were replayed in the media.
On March 27, 2013, the jury found Richard Kachkar not criminally responsible for murdering my husband. Kachkar was 44 years old when he killed my husband. He had no history of mental illness and no diagnosis of mental health issues, yet there he was, not criminally responsible for murder.
Digesting this verdict has been very difficult. A verdict of not criminally responsible has far too many loose ends. There are no set guidelines or terms, no punishment, no accountability, and no criminal record.
Thirty days after Richard Kachkar was found not criminally responsible, he came before the Ontario Review Board for his first review board hearing. We were told that there was an agreement between the Attorney General of Ontario and the Kachkar defence attorney. The joint submission provided that Kachkar be detained pursuant to a detention order in the secure forensic unit at the Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences in Whitby, with only hospital and hospital grounds privileges. There were to be no privileges to enter into the community.
The considered joint submission of the crown and the defence acknowledged and recognized that Richard Kachkar was dangerous and that he represented a significant threat to public safety and required a psychiatric assessment and treatment in a secure detention setting. That would occur over the next 12 months before a different disposition could be considered, if at all, at his next review board hearing.
We were quite concerned that Kachkar, having murdered my husband, was being sent to a medium secure facility rather than the maximum secure facility in Penetanguishene. We were powerless to influence this. We had to accept this joint submission. We thought that, at the very least, spending a year at a maximum secure facility until the true nature and the degree of his mental illness were assessed made sense.
At the hearing, I, along with my parents, Ryan's dad, and a representative of the Toronto Police Service, was finally given an opportunity to read a victim impact statement. We were not permitted to read victim impact statements at the trial because of the verdict of not criminally responsible. All of our statements were scrutinized and edited before the hearing, so as not to offend Mr. Kachkar. It just added insult to injury to not be able to truly voice our hurt and our pain.
I was appalled that the board was entirely unaware of and insensitive to the expectation that I had to actually sit next to my husband's murderer, only two feet away, while delivering my victim impact statement. Review boards should be alert to this painful and extremely uncomfortable dynamic.
On April 29, 2013, the Ontario Review Board delivered its disposition. I was stunned to learn that the board went beyond the joint submission without once questioning or challenging the joint submission and without ever alerting counsel for the Attorney General that the board intended to give privileges that Kachkar did not ask for. The Attorney General of Ontario did not have the opportunity to address the public safety issues and call evidence on the issue.
Notwithstanding that, the board agreed that Richard Kachkar was dangerous and represented a significant threat to public safety; he suffered from a major mental illness, namely psychosis not otherwise specified; he was paranoid and likely schizophrenic; and his major illness was complex, with much remaining unknown.
At the sole discretion of hospital staff, the board authorized Kachkar to enter the community of Whitby, either escorted by hospital staff one on one or escorted by hospital staff with one or two staff for five patients. These are hospital staff, not security guards or armed guards. If Kachkar takes off, all they can do is call 911, and this is a man who could only be brought down by bullets when tasering failed.
This is an absolute insult to my husband, an insult to me and my family, an insult to the police community, and an insult to our public. This is precisely the nonsense that creates public cynicism and disrespect towards the administration of justice.
The crown is appealing the decision, but it does serve to illustrate a serious and systematic problem. There is no public trust or confidence in this review board system when the board feels free and unrestrained to do as it pleases. After only 30 days post-verdict for Richard Kachkar, the man who brutally murdered my husband, left my son without his dad, and shattered our lives forever, this review board put him on a fast track to being discharged without proper diagnosis or any understanding of his mental illness.
You all need to understand how critical and essential it is for victims to attend review board hearings and read our victim impact statements at each annual hearing, year after year. To do otherwise is to abandon our loved ones and risk that the review board process becomes an academic exercise.
Victim impact statements provide for a critical reality check. Perhaps my family will be spared the trauma of annual review board hearings, because the board may be intent on only a short period of detention—an injustice in and of itself—but the issue of yearly reviews needs to be addressed. The victims of these violent and destructive acts need to have rights, and need to stop being revictimized. Changes are necessary to restore a level of trust and confidence in our justice system.
Bill C-54 is a necessary step in the right direction, particularly with the new designation of a high-risk offender. As you know, not all offenders are the same. People who murder police officers are not your typical “not criminally responsible” offenders. They need to be treated differently. A heightened level of security and scrutiny is necessary. The time they spend in secure detention for assessment, evaluation, and treatment for their own good and for public safety must be proportionate to the severity and brutality of their crime.
My husband is dead, and my child is fatherless. Whether Richard Kachkar was sane or insane does not matter; it will never change that fact. Either way, he is dangerous. The public has the right to be protected and feel that it is being protected. Without these changes, the public confidence and respect for this process evaporates, and the system continues to fail.
Thank you.