MONTREAL: The man suspected of shooting one person dead at an election victory rally for Quebec separatists will undergo a psychiatric exam to determine if he is competent to stand trial, his lawyer said Friday.
Richard Henry Bain, 62, is accused of opening fire at the Sept. 4 rally outside a Montreal concert venue as the newly elected prime minister of the French-speaking Canadian province, Pauline Marois, was speaking.
The gunman, the English-speaking owner of a hunting and fishing business, was masked and dressed in a bathrobe and screamed anti-French slogans
as he fired shots, killing a bystander.
At the courthouse on Friday, Bain made several outbursts, exhibiting the type of behavior that his lawyer said prompted her request for a psychiatric evaluation.
Defense attorney Elfriede Duclervil said it was difficult to prepare Bain’s defense, given “the speeches he makes.”
Bain claimed to be on a mission from Jesus to “fight the evil separatists,” adding that “Christian soldiers never commit murder.”
Bain is facing 16 charges, including one count of first degree murder and three counts of attempted murder.
He was arrested shortly after the shooting. Clad in a robe, he yelled out “The English are waking up.”
Marois, who was hustled off stage by security when the shots rang out, said last week she thought Bain was aiming to attack her personally. But for the moment, the case is not being prosecuted as such.
He is next scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 17.
Quebec shooting suspect to face psychiatric test
