INSIDE: Senior survives incredible hit and run, cops seek driver Pg. 3 F R I D A Y
February 4, 2011
18 N E W S ,
SPORTS,
WEATHER
&
PHOTOS: the thrill of the hunt
E N T E R T A I N M E N T abbotsfordtimes.com
Murder suspect ‘not responsible’ Allegedly killed wife and burned down their home ROCHELLE BAKER RBaker@abbotsfordtimes.com
A
the UFV student. There was also a digitally created image of Kasha with wings, and a newspaper article covering the
n Abbotsford man accused of murdering his wife and then burning down their rural family home on Remembrance Day in 2009 will likely be declared not criminally responsible for his actions. The man, who cannot be named due to a publication ban to protect the couple’s two children, was originally scheduled for a three-week trial at Chilliwack Supreme First reported @ abbotsfordtimes.com Court. However, on Wednesday morn- “He and his wife ing both Crown and were intensely in defence submitted a n a g r e e d s t a t e - love and had a ment of facts stating loving family . . .” the accused suffers from a severe men- – Deanne Gaffar attorney tal illness with a depressive disorder accompanied by psychotic symptoms. The sole witness, a psychiatrist who has been treating the accused at the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in Coquitlam to determine if he was not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder (NCR-MD), reviewed numerous reports also submitted by other experts. The husband developed the illness only two months prior to the incident, and had absolutely no history of mental disorders, court heard. There was also no evidence or history of domestic abuse. “He and his wife were intensely in love and had a loving family . . . that was collaborated from sources, family and friends,” said defence attorney Deanne Gaffar. In the period before the incident, the accused grew increasingly delusional in nature and feared for the safety of his family, she said. Abbotsford Fire Rescue Service was called out to the family home on Lefeuvre Road around 9 a.m. on Nov. 11, 2009. The Integrated Homicide Investigation
see TRAGEDY, page A6
see DECISION, page A17
– JEAN KONDA-WITTE/TIMES
Cori Jantzen, aunt of Kasha Dezainde, hugs a friend at the site where her niece died after the car she was riding in crashed Sunday afternoon.
Tragic end for “bubbly” teen
JEAN KONDA-WITTE JKonda-Witte@abbotsfordtimes.com
T
he muddy tracks are still visible where the tires of a Nissan NX ground through the front yard of a rural home on Page Road moments before striking a tree at the end of the driveway – ending the life of a young woman with so much promise. The passenger – Abbotsford’s Kasha Dezainde, 19 – died at the scene Sunday afternoon,
Crashed coming home from church while her friend who was driving continues to fight for her life in hospital. The pair were travelling westbound in the 33500 block of Page Road in Abbotsford when the driver lost control of the car, said Abbotsford Police spokesman Const. Ian MacDonald. “They came across the slightly elevated railroad track, lost control and careened into a tree,” he
explained. Kasha’s aunt, Cori Jantzen, joined others at the crash site Wednesday afternoon. “It’s going to be so hard to live without her,” Jantzen said. “She [was] amazing.” A handful of people attended the crash site Wednesday, paying their respects to their beloved Kasha at a makeshift memorial, which included a photograph of
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