Last Updated: April 6, 2011 12:20am
Daniel Maxheleau leaving hospital the morning of Sept. 12, 2008. (TONY CALDWELL/OTTAWA SUN/QMI AGENCY)
Daniel Maxheleau is making strides in the Royal Ottawa Hospital’s psychiatric assessment ward, but he is not ready to live alone, the Ontario Review Board heard Tuesday.
The paranoid schizophrenic man, now 36, stabbed his parents, Gerald, 66, and Louise, 60, and youngest sister, Michele, 25, to death in 2005.
But he was found not criminally responsible for the triple slaying because he told doctors he believed he was pregnant and that his family wanted to hurt his unborn baby.
A highly-educated chartered accountant, Maxheleau wore a grey suit jacket with a white dress shirt and black and white tie.
He was also unshaven, with short brown hair, as he remained calm and pensive throughout the 90-minute meeting, except one short interruption against his lawyer’s wishes.
Maxheleau was returned to the hospital after he was seen walking naked and screaming in the street of his south Ottawa neighbourhood Nov. 3.
It was revealed the psychotic spell was caused by not taking his medication, Clozapine, but it’s unclear if that was intentional or accidental.
Dr. Helen Ward told the board at the “restriction of liberty” hearing Maxheleau’s state has improved, but he is still having recurring identity delusions, including a belief he’s a Surete du Quebec police officer.
She added Maxheleau doesn’t understand his condition or grasp what he needs to do to improve.
She did advise, though, he be moved from the double-lock assessment ward to the single-lock rehabilitation ward, where he would eventually be allowed some supervised visits to his home and supervised trips to the community.
The Crown and Maxheleau’s newest lawyer Michael Davies accepted Ward’s diagnosis, with some clarifications.
But the Crown disagreed with some conditions, claiming it was too early to allow Maxheleau back into the public.
Davies, who made his first appearance since taking over Maxheleau’s case, said the board should focus on the steps needed to move forward.
“He’s in a situation now where he’s improving and he’s improved a bit,” said Davies. “Hopefully he gets to the point again sometime in the next six months where he can be ready to go back in the community.”
The ORB will decide on Maxheleau’s immediate fate in the coming weeks, with another review expected in about six months.
The mandatory hearing has been delayed multiple times after Maxheleau refused to appear before the board and members of the press.