Man who tried to stab priest found NCR

WINNIPEG — A knife-wielding man who tried to attack a Catholic cleric at a Winnipeg church — after he was discharged from hospital despite warning staff he was going to kill a priest — has been found not criminally responsible (NCR) for his actions.

Pawel Olownia, 50 at the time he was arrested, attempted to stab the 38-year-old priest as he stood on the altar of Holy Ghost Parish, speaking to parishioners during a Sunday evening mass on Feb. 9.

He was in the grips of the delusional belief he was being persecuted by the church and the Canadian government at the time, court heard. It appears Olownia remains in custody, pending a hearing in front of mental health officials.

After reviewing an assessment of Olownia conducted by a psychiatrist, provincial court Judge Lisa LaBossiere concluded earlier this summer that, although he committed the acts he was charged with, he was suffering a mental disorder at the time that makes him exempt from criminal responsibility.

“There’s no doubt that this offence, which occurred in public, where people gathered to worship, would have been frightening to all of those … involved,” LaBossiere said at the hearing.

The priest was able to dodge the stabbing attempt, which was captured on the Selkirk Avenue church’s livestream video.

An off-duty RCMP officer flashed his badge at Olownia, and, with the help of another parishioner, detained him until Winnipeg police arrived. No one was hurt.

Olownia was charged with assault with a weapon, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose and disturbing a religious assembly.

The Crown prosecutor and Olownia, who represented himself at the June hearing, had requested he be found not criminally responsible in light of the assessment and sent to a hospital.

LaBossiere gave an overview of the psychiatric assessment before issuing her decision.

The psychiatrist who assessed Olownia for the court found there was sufficient evidence he was experiencing psychosis.

He had previously been diagnosed with a delusional disorder, hospitalized for it and prescribed medication, but did not always take his pills, LaBossiere said.

The psychiatrist said Olownia’s delusions were an unshaken belief he was being persecuted.

“Mr. Olownia held a longstanding belief that he was continuously being video recorded by the church and the Canadian government. He had a grandiose delusion that he was a famous celebrity who had inspired popular songs,” LaBossiere said.

“Prior to his incident, he went to the hospital for assistance. He was hospitalized. At that time, he told them that he wanted to go on record that he was going to kill a priest.”

After he was released from hospital, his delusions “reached a crescendo,” the judge said, and he was unable to comprehend what he was doing was morally wrong.

“He was genuinely distressed with his perceived infamy. He wanted a life of privacy and wanted to escalate his situation to a matter in front of the court so he would be able to cross-examine a member of the organization who he felt was persecuting him,” LaBossiere said.

“He tried to get help at the hospital due to his thoughts about killing a priest. He says he heard voices telling him to kill a priest. He felt the attendance at the hospital was not successful, therefore escalated his actions by confronting the priest to resolve this situation.”

It was unclear on Tuesday why, exactly, hospital officials discharged Olownia weeks prior to the February incident.

Shared Health, the agency responsible for the Health Sciences Centre, refused to comment on the case or say whether officials have or will review Olownia’s discharge, citing privacy legislation.

Marion Cooper, the chief executive officer of the Canadian Mental Health Association’s Winnipeg and Manitoba branches, said the man’s discharge is indicative of wider problems in the province’s psychiatric health-care system.

“We need to be able to have confidence, that when people reach out for psychiatric care like he did, that there are some comprehensive assessments and maybe even follow-up to the family to understand what might be going on,” Cooper said.

“Too often, we hear that people are going to emergency seeking psychiatric help, and they’re seen, and then released without any kind of follow-up or resolution to what brought them there.”

Cooper added she thinks Olownia’s discharge and the subsequent attempted attack should be reviewed by health officials as a critical incident “to understand what the breakdown may have been and what could have been done differently” and improve outcomes in the future.

Olownia’s case is now the purview of the province’s Mental Health Review Board, which will determine whether Olownia should be discharged, discharged with conditions, or locked up in a psychiatric hospital pending further treatment and assessment.

Olownia has not yet applied for the hearing at which the board will make that determination, an official at the review board said Tuesday.

As of June, Olownia was being held in a Manitoba jail.

LaBossiere ordered he be moved to the secured psychiatric ward at the Health Sciences Centre as soon as a bed became available. It was not immediately clear Tuesday whether that transfer has occurred.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Winnipeg did not return a request for an interview with an official about the incident, the court’s finding and whether anything has been done to heighten security in the aftermath.

» Winnipeg Free Press