Ryan Lamontagne is to undergo a 60-day assessment to determine if he was suffering from a mental illness when he allegedly killed his mother and tried to bury her body at a Halifax home, and if he’s fit to stand trial.
Lamontagne, sitting silently with his head down for most of the session, appeared by video link in Halifax provincial court Tuesday morning.
Judge Ann Marie Simmons ordered a 60-day assessment after receiving a “ very brief, but informative” report from psychiatrist Dr. Scott Theriault.
Theriault reviewed some of Lamontagne’s medical records and only was given the opportunity “to have something resembling a conversation” with him on Monday, Simmons said.
“Lamontagne is currently, and I’ll use (Theriault’s) language, ‘in the process of a psychotic episode and in this moment in time unfit to participate in the courts process,’” Simmons said.
In his report, Theriault’s recommendation is that the assessment should be expanded to include the possibility of Lamontagne being not criminally responsible.
All parties agreed for Lamontagne to undergo further assessment.
Lamontagne hasn’t received any treatment, Crown attorney Mark Heerema said.
“But the Involuntary Psychiatric Treatment Act provides a mechanism where by the public trustee can authorize treatment and I do understand that East Coast Forensic Hospital will be pursuing that as potentially one option to assist Mr. Lamontagne in regaining his mental health,” Heerema said.
On Oct. 22, Lamontagne was arrested at a residence on Willow Street after Halifax Regional Police found a dead body in the backyard after receiving a call of suspicious activity.
The next day, Lamontagne was charged with second-degree murder and interfering with the remains of Linda Lamontagne, 65.
Police are looking to speak with a man who may have given Lamontagne a ride between midnight and 7 a.m. on Oct. 22.
The man “may have met Lamontagne in the area of Nantucket Avenue by the Macdonald bridge in Dartmouth” and gone to a local coffee shop, police said in a news release Tuesday.
Lamontagne was wearing a camouflage hooded sweatshirt, dark pants and carrying a backpack at the time.
The witness is not a suspect in the homicide and police are not seeking additional suspects, the release said.
Lamontagne was remanded to the East Coast Forensic Hospital in Dartmouth and is to appear in court on Dec. 23 at 9:30 a.m.
