CALGARY — A psychiatrist who deemed a Calgary man fit to stand trial for a fatal attack on a woman three years ago had concerns the accused suffered from an underlying psychotic illness, court heard Monday.
Michael Adenyi, 29, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of fitness instructor Vanessa Ladouceur on a downtown street. The 30-year-old was walking to work in the early morning of March 18, 2022, when she was attacked.
Adenyi has said he believed he was attacking a creature when he assaulted the woman. He said the creature looked like lions, tigers and bears with mangled faces and that he had to attack or risk being killed.
He told the court that when he cut himself during the fatal attack, he was shocked back into reality and discovered the demonic creature was a person.
Adenyi's lawyers argue he is not criminally responsible by reason of a medical disorder.
Calgary psychiatrist Dr. David Tano assessed whether Adenyi was fit to stand trial in April 2022.
"I felt that he was able to articulate the necessary criteria for fitness to stand trial," he told court Monday.
He testified before the jury that Adenyi seemed to be aware of the charges against him, how the court system worked and the consequences of what would happen if he were found guilty.
But Tano's fitness appraisal raised some concerns, he said. The psychiatrist said Adenyi had considered suicide in the past and seemed to have difficulties answering more in-depth questions.
"It started raising concerns for me that he was having difficulties with his thoughts," he said.
"He talked about being a recluse and having these kind of difficulties with auditory hallucinations, where he talked about in the past hearing these whispers and these voices saying his name or telling him to kill himself or starve himself.
"He also referred to visual hallucinations where he saw ghosts and people as well as himself."
Tano said Adenyi tried to downplay his hallucinations but also expressed fears about being kidnapped and that his fitness to stand trial could change.
"I feared this gentleman suffered from an underlying psychotic illness that wasn't being picked up or treated and I feared that the psychotic process may, if it was there, may actually impact his ability to attend the court processes in the future," Tano said.
"I wanted to inform the courts that fitness may become an issue in the future. I was also querying that perhaps if psychosis is an issue, if the person is shown to have actually done the alleged crime, that the courts may want to consider the NCR defence."
Tano, who was the final witness called by the defence, said he became Adenyi's primary physician when he was sent to the Southern Alberta Forensic Psychiatry Centre for a 30-day evaluation.
He said he noted that Adenyi's behaviour had become more erratic during that period of time.
Crown prosecutor Carla MacPhail asked Tano whether Adenyi discussed some of his more serious symptoms, like his hallucinations of animalistic creatures.
"Not that I can recall," Tano replied.
"He wasn't reporting at SAFPC that he was talking to his shoelaces," MacPhail asked.
"Not that I remember. No," Tano said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 28, 2025.
Bill Graveland, The Canadian Press
