Emily Sanche tried to seek medical help for boyfriend before he fatally stabbed her, court hears

Catherine Sanche says her cousin and best friend Emily Sanche never feared her boyfriend Thomas Hamp would hurt her in the weeks leading up to her death in February 2022.

Hamp is on trial at Court of King's Bench in Saskatoon for second-degree murder in the death of Sanche on Feb. 20, 2022. Hamp does not deny killing Sanche. His defence lawyer is arguing he is not criminally responsible.

Catherine described her cousin as selfless, passionate and driven. Catherine says the pair lived together for years, were lifelong best friends who would play Dungeons and Dragons with friends and ran a side business together making and selling dice bags for the game.

"I think she knew me better than anyone," Catherine said during her testimony Tuesday at Court of King's Bench in Saskatoon.

During Catherine's testimony Tuesday, she spent much of her time reading excerpts from a 10-page document she compiled for a police interview about Hamp's worsening mental health. The document was made up of text messages exchanged with Sanche over a roughly three-month period with timestamped dates and times from each message.

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Hamp had been diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder years earlier and was taking medication. Sanche had a career focus on the disorder after completing her psychology degree and was working towards her master's at the time of her death.

From December 2021 to February 2022, Catherine detailed a variety of concerning incidents, many of which resulted in either a trip to the hospital, a clinic or to the province's crisis health line.

Hamp was telling Sanche about memories or stories that she verified did not happen. These delusions increased over time.

Hamp became suspicious and believed he was being followed. He thought family members were pedophiles and that he had been sexually abused. Eventually, Hamp thought doctors or his medication would castrate him.

One night, Sanche found Hamp sitting in the bathroom in the middle of the night trying to take his phone apart because he believed Tetris was spying on him.

Each medical visit, Sanche was either told Hamp's symptoms were from his OCD, Hamp weening himself off his medication, and that he was not an immediate danger to himself or others.

(Facebook/Thomas Hamp)

Catherine explained to Crown prosecutor Cory Bliss that Hamp effectively convinced doctors he was fine because he believed his delusions, and they had no context or reference of what happened and what wasn't real.

"I'm so mad at these f***ing smug doctors for letting it get this bad. We did everything right," Catherine said, reading Sanche's text message.

As Catherine read each message, she detailed how Sanche's focus was on getting Hamp healthy and treated. She regularly updated his family. Through her education she learned the risks of involving police and how their presence could "escalate" Hamp's condition if he was suffering from psychosis, so she was reluctant to call police.

Catherine received a final message from Sanche on Feb. 19, 2022 – the day before she was fatally stabbed – once again frustrated with Hamp's medical care.

"I just hate that this is how the system works," Catherine said to the court.

"We brought him in months ago. This could have all been avoided."

Two weeks are set aside for the judge-alone trial. The trial resumes Wednesday morning, when the defence is expected to call Hamp to testify.