For defence lawyer Marni Munsterman, the “discomforting and alarming” detail that stood out in the large volume of evidence about Adam Rossi — who was found not criminally responsible on Friday of the second-degree murder of Sommer Boudreau, and interfering with her remains, in the Ottawa Valley a year ago — was one of his more recent hospitalizations.

That hospitalization, for mania stemming from his bipolar disorder, occurred before he killed Boudreau, 39, in his duplex in Deep River, Ont., in early December 2022.

A psychiatrist was contemplating a community treatment order for Rossi with long-acting injectable medication, something that could have helped after he kept deciding to stop taking the antipsychotic pills that court heard quickly eased his symptoms.

“For whatever reason, that didn’t happen,” Munsterman said.

She called it a “travesty,” and said it shows “how broken our system truly has become” in providing support to people with mental illness.

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CBC News
December 16, 2023