Man who killed stranger while on drugs approved for treatment program though deemed ‘a significant threat’

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House chased Pender “to a nearby cottage and stabbed him repeatedly with the knife,” said the decision.

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“Neighbours were able to remove the knife and subdue Mr. House until police arrived. Mr. House was mumbling and did not make sense.”

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Pender “passed away from multiple sharp force injuries, including injuries to his diaphragm, stomach, bowel and left lung. A penetrating injury to his right axillary artery was rapidly fatal.”

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House later said he’d “consumed marijuana, Percocet, cocaine, and beer on the day of the index offence at home and while at work. He reported having no memory of harming the victim.”

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House, 35, is from Six Nations. He’s a father of five.

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“Mr. House’s direct paternal and maternal relatives have a history of forced residential school attendance, documented back to the 1930s,” said the decision, which notes “the long-term, intentionally destructive effects of residential schools on members of the Canadian Indigenous population…. These include broken culture, addictive and self-destructive behaviours, violence, broken family, and broken spirit.”

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Several of House’s “family members struggled with substance abuse and addiction, including his stepfather and his grandmother, who drank daily after the loss of her partner,” said the decision. “Mr. House disclosed that he lacked cultural exposure as a child, but his mother was part of a ‘party community’ with family members who he often witnessed drinking to excess.”

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He tried alcohol and marijuana at 17, said the decision.

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“He developed an opioid addiction at 18 years old, following a motor vehicle accident. In his 20s, he experimented with drugs at parties and occasionally abused Percocet, which had been prescribed for his partner’s surgeries. He did not drink regularly until he began to experience several losses in his family.”

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House’s brother, Richie, died after falling and hitting his head “during a night of drinking,” said the decision.

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“Mr. House blames himself for Richie’s death because he didn’t call an ambulance for Richie.”

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House’s substance abuse worsened after his father died.

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“His form of self-medication mirrored that of his grandmother, who had turned to alcohol as a coping mechanism after the loss of her husband.”

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House got clean in 2018 to help a friend recover from a car crash, said the decision. “However, in 2020, Mr. House lost another brother, his closest sibling, to a fatal drug overdose. Over the next few years, Mr. House’s mental health and substance abuse worsened. He began abusing Percocet and cocaine regularly and, at one point, overdosed on hydromorphone in his home.”

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The ORB heard House used cocaine, oxycodone and marijuana while on a community pass last July because he was distressed the mother of his children wasn’t seeing their kids.

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Last November, House’s younger brother died unexpectedly in his sleep, said the decision.

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“Mr. House attended his wake and feast following his death. During this staff-escorted outing, Mr. House obtained cocaine and marijuana from an acquaintance at his brother’s funeral. He stored the drugs in the hospital and used them on a later date. Both substances were identified in his urine samples in late November.”

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House didn’t “experience any psychotic symptoms with either relapse,” said the decision. “He was not involved in any conflicts. Staff have been concerned about his risk of self-harm as Mr. House feels helpless and despondent regarding ‘losing his family.’”