Quebec bus driver in fatal daycare crash unable to tell right from wrong, 2nd expert tells court

A second psychiatrist told a trial on Tuesday that the man accused of killing two children and injuring six others when he drove a city bus into a Montreal-area daycare was unable to distinguish right from wrong.

Dr. Sylvain Faucher testified that Pierre Ny St-Amand was experiencing psychotic symptoms on Feb. 8, 2023 and should not be held criminally responsible — meaning a mental disorder rendered him incapable of appreciating the nature of his actions or knowing they were wrong.

After Crown prosecutor Karine Dalphond read out the definition of not criminally responsible in the Laval, Que., courtroom, Faucher replied: "I believe he responds to that."

Ny St-Amand, 53, is accused of ramming a bus into the Laval daycare, killing a four-year-old boy and a five-year-old girl. After the crash, Ny St-Amand stood inside the mangled bus and undressed, speaking and yelling incoherently before being subdued by parents on the scene.

Faucher testified Tuesday that possible untreated post-traumatic stress disorder from Ny St-Amand's childhood as an orphan in war-torn Cambodia left him "fragile" to stressors in his life.

The psychiatrist said it's impossible to know why Ny St-Amand acted in the way he did, but he speculated that he might have attacked the daycare during his psychosis as a way of "killing his own past."

"We can ask whether the link exists between the significant traumas experienced by the accused during his childhood and the fact that, during an episode of illness, he aimed at individuals of a comparable age to his own when he suffered various abuse and was confronted by highly tragic situations," Faucher told the court.

"This supposes he knew he was crashing into a daycare, at some level."

Accused likely experiencing psychosis: expert

On Monday, Dr. Kim Bedard-Charette told the first day of the trial that the accused was likely experiencing psychosis at the time he drove the bus into the building.

Faucher evaluated Ny St-Amand separately at the request of the Crown and reached largely the same conclusion, though he characterized the psychotic episode as "brief" rather than "unspecified," as Bedard-Charette had.

In response to their evaluations, both the Crown and defence told the court in February that they would present the facts of Ny St-Amand's case jointly and recommend a verdict of not criminally responsible.

According to documents filed in court, Ny St-Amand was born in Cambodia in 1972, shortly before the Khmer Rouge began a brutal rule that is blamed for the deaths of 1.7 million people.

Both his parents died as a result of the conflict, and he doesn't know his real surname or birthday. He was moved to different refugee camps under the guardianship of a cousin, who also died. He was physically assaulted by the cousin's wife, who strung him up by his feet and beat him. In 1982, he was sent to Canada by a humanitarian agency and adopted by a Quebec family.

Faucher told the court that Ny St-Amand's past and lack of close personal relationships, even with his wife and adopted family, meant that he was poorly equipped to cope with stressors that might appear unremarkable to others. Those included a costly family trip planned to Disney World and his impending marriage to his longtime partner.

Like Bedard-Charette, Faucher said Ny St-Amand had exhibited many of the classic symptoms of psychosis, including agitation, memory loss, delirium and strange behaviour. As an example, Faucher noted that after his arrest, Ny St-Amand was found naked in his cell, walking an imaginary line on the floor.

As the testimony was given, the accused stared straight ahead, sometimes closing his eyes and appearing to briefly nod off.

Parent says Ny St-Amand being treated as victim

Mélanie Goulet, whose daughter survived after being trapped under the bus, told reporters outside the courtroom on Tuesday that she felt like Ny St-Amand was being treated as a victim.

"Basically, they were trying to justify his actions by his past, but we all have a past, we all have stress in our life," she said.

Ny St-Amand, she added, is receiving more help and treatment than the victims. "He's been in a facility with a really big team and everything for his recovery," she said. "What about us? What about the kids?"

Quebec Superior Court Justice Eric Downs is presiding over the hearings and will make the final decision on Ny St-Amand's criminal responsibility.

Both Crown and defence lawyers were expected to make statements Tuesday afternoon, and Downs will return with a verdict at a later date.