All of the evidence has been submitted and counsel has closed their cases in the Kellie Johnson murder trial.
The 38-year-old mother has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the death of her five-year-old son Jonathan Vetter.
Vetter was found dead in a home on the 400 block of Avenue R South. According to an agreed statement of facts in the case, Johnson killed Vetter by slitting his throat.
Defence lawyer Leslie Sullivan told reporters outside Queen’s Bench court Thursday the debate is whether or not the defence — under section 16, subsection one, of the Criminal Code — applies.
“That is whether or not Ms. Johnson is not criminally responsible for her actions,” Sullivan said.
Court heard Johnson was experiencing mental health issues for years and was inconsistent in taking prescribed medication.
In addition to a police officer, three expert witnesses were called during Johnson’s trial. A psychiatrist and a psychologist testified on behalf of the defence, and a psychiatrist took the stand on behalf of the Crown.
All three assessed Johnson after she killed Vetter. While they all agree Johnson has schizophrenia — and did so at the time of the killing — there was conflicting testimony.
Dr. Mansfield Melaand Dr. Lindsay Robertson both testified Johnson didn’t know the difference between right and wrong when she killed her son. They said she truly believed she was doing the right thing, and Robertson said Johnson was “acutely psychotic” at the time.
Crown witness Dr. Olubankole Obikoya disagreed. He told court he believes Johnson knew her actions were legally and morally wrong and could understand the nature of what she did.
He said Johnson buying a knife two weeks before the killing shows she had the intellectual capability of planning and executing the killing, and that she had the capacity to make choices.
She showed some signs of guilt after the killing, he said.
“I think that the three experts who testified all honestly held their opinions, and so at the end of the day the determination is whether the defence has been established,” Crown prosecutor Brian Hendrickson said Thursday.
Court heard Johnson hadn’t been taking her medication for at least a month before the killing and that, beginning in 2006, she began hearing and seeing things that didn’t exist.
Johnson told all three doctors about “the woman" — an imaginary person who Johnson believed worked for the devil. Johnson thought "the woman" was controlling her life, her family members’ souls and her environment. She believed “the woman” could do this through books, the computer and the television.
Johnson believed “the woman” was going to kill her and that Vetter would be in danger, experts testified. “The woman,” Johnson believed, said Johnson’s ex-boyfriend would raise Vetter and molest him, which would lead Vetter to become a molester himself and which would lead him to be sent to hell.
In order to save Vetter from hell, she believed she had to kill the boy in order to send him to heaven first.
Johnson will remain in Saskatchewan Hospital for now. Closing arguments in the case are scheduled for Aug. 19.
