A Toronto man unlawfully caused the death of his parents and attempted to kill his brother in Etobicoke in September 2022, an Ontario judge has ruled.
Superior Court Justice Joan Barrett delivered her decision in the judge-alone trial of Alpha Henry in a Toronto courtroom Thursday.
Henry is charged with two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of his parents, Colin and Veronica Henry, and attempted murder of his brother, Daniel Kwame Henry.
But Barrett stopped short of finding Henry guilty Thursday, as his defence team had indicated in November that they plan to file a motion declaring him not criminally responsible based on mental illness if the court had found he committed an unlawful act.
Barrett said in her reasons that she completely rejects the evidence by the defence presented at trial.
“I do not believe the defendant’s account that Daniel attacked him and his parents,” the judge writes. “I completely reject his evidence. The defendant’s account does not accord with reason and common sense.”
On Sept. 21, 2022, at about 1:30 a.m., Toronto police were called to a unit in an apartment building at 27 Bergamot Ave., near Islington Avenue and Rexdale Boulevard.
When they arrived, they found Colin and Veronica Henry dead in their bathtub. Both were stabbed and doused with gasoline.
Alpha Henry, was arrested nearby after his younger brother, Daniel Henry, called 911 from a gas station.
Daniel was also arrested but released unconditionally the next day. Alpha was later charged.
The judge has set the next court appearance for Jan. 17. It is expected that the defence will make an argument for Henry to be found not criminally responsible and ask the judge to have Alpha Henry examined by a forensic psychiatrist.