Man found guilty in 2021 stabbing death of Halifax optician
In some of Tony Nader's final words before he collapsed and died following a horrific stabbing inside the Halifax optometry store where he worked, he asked someone he knew at the scene to tell his family, friends and co-workers that he loved them.
On Thursday, more than two dozen of them were in Nova Scotia Supreme Court to hear a judge find the 28-year-old man accused of the 2021 killing guilty of first-degree murder, rejecting his defence that he was not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder.
Cymon Felix Cormier looked at the floor, but showed little reaction as Justice Christa Brothers told him the decision, which means he faces an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years.
"I find that Mr. Cormier was in full control of his faculties when he repeatedly stabbed Mr. Nader," the judge said in a written decision.
"Mr. Cormier was a deliberate, wilful and conscious actor, who planned an attack to kill Mr. Nader or cause bodily harm he knew would likely kill him."
On Dec. 30, 2021, Cormier pushed his way into Insight Optometry, which at the time was screening customers as part of COVID-19 protocols, and pursued Nader around the store, stabbing him. Cormier ran from the scene, but was arrested nearby.
During the trial, which began last fall and lasted more than 15 days, the court heard that Cormier had come to believe Nader had sexually abused him as a child, when Nader and his mother had been in a relationship.
There was no evidence brought to court, however, that suggested the allegations were true. Cormier's brother testified Nader was like a father figure for the brothers during the time he lived with the family.
Cormier had long struggled with his mental health. A forensic psychiatrist who testified for the defence told the court Cormier had developed "systemized delusions" that Nader was a pedophile who was part of a sex cult, and that people were covering it up.
Cormier had told the psychiatrist that God commands him to do things, that he is on a special mission to bring justice to society, that he gets messages through the radio and that doctors have tried to kill or punish him.
But Brothers concluded Cormier was in fact malingering. He was not suffering from schizophrenia, she said, but instead from a major depressive disorder, and that it did not make him incapable of knowing that his attack on Nader was wrong.
'Tony Nader was a much-loved individual'
Nader, 55, was a husband and father of two children, and was known both as an optician who was dedicated to his patients as well as a talented musician.
Prosecutor Scott Morrison said outside the courtroom the judge thoroughly examined the evidence and correctly applied the law, and he believes she came to the right decision. He said Nader's family is generally happy with the result.
"It's obvious that this has had a profound impact on their life and that Tony Nader was a much-loved individual," he said. "But I think for some people it might bring them a measure of closure."
In her ruling, Brothers pointed to internet searches Cormier made before the stabbing, how he appeared "goal-oriented" in planning and attacking Nader, and that no witnesses, including police officers, described him behaving in a psychotic way.
The internet searches in the months leading up to the stabbing included "I think I was sexually abuse but can't remember," "feelings of revenge," and "insanity defence."
Brothers said the evidence of the defence expert, Dr. Julian Gojer, who concluded Cormier was likely not criminally responsible, "falls significantly short" of what is required. She said the psychiatrist's "unvarnished acceptance" of Cormier's statements was "problematic."
Sentencing in late July
She noted that after Gojer was shown the internet searches during cross-examination in court, he said he was now "on the fence" about whether Cormier was criminally responsible.
In the opinion of Dr. Joel Watts, an expert for the prosecution, Cormier had embellished his psychotic symptoms and his claims of amnesia in relation to the attack, according to the judge, who called his testimony "clear, compelling and rooted in evidence."
The judge also found Cormier guilty of assault causing bodily harm for hitting an Insight customer with the butt of the knife during the attack.
Cormier will be formally sentenced for murder and assault at a court hearing at the end of July where family members will be given the opportunity to read victim impact statements.
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