A Langford man who stabbed, punched and strangled his 59-year-old mother to death in 2021 has been found not criminally responsible for her murder due to a mental disorder.
Family and close friends of Raymonde Elder shook their heads as B.C. Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Power provided her decision Wednesday, saying Ryan Elder, 30, killed his mother in a schizophrenia-induced psychosis.
Power said she gave significant weight to the opinions of two forensic psychiatrists who testified to that effect.
Ryan Elder had stopped taking anti-psychotic medication before his mother’s death, and a psychiatrist who assessed him in 2021 believed there was a 100 per cent chance of future psychosis if his condition was left untreated, Power said.
“The evidence indicates that Raymonde Elder was actively seeking psychiatric assistance for her son right up until the days before her death. This is perhaps the greatest tragedy of this case,” Power said.
In a Christmas-evening text, the last message she sent before her death, Raymonde Elder expressed concern about her son and said he did not eat his turkey dinner.
Ryan Elder’s psychosis caused him to believe his mother poisoned him and intended to kill him, likely with a pair of scissors, Power said.
In interviews with forensic psychiatrist Dr. Andriy Kolchak, who spent nearly four days testifying at trial, Ryan Elder described believing his mother had been replaced in the period leading to her death and not knowing who or what he had killed.
“All of a sudden, she’s screaming at me and blocking and I got smoked on the side of the head. I smoked her back. I hit something that didn’t feel like teeth. I found out she had a set of scissors sitting in her mouth, pointing at me,” he told Kolchak.
He said he believed the scissors “went into his bloodstream” and he felt like he was going to pass out.
Ryan Elder described in detail the violence he used to end his mother’s life.
Power said among the more horrific aspects of Ryan Elder’s statement to police are the pleas Raymonde Elder apparently made for her life.
“Mr. Elder said she was still roaring to fight, even though she was saying, ‘Please, please, please, I’ll give you anything, Ryan. I’ll give you the car. You can have all the money. You can take the house,’ ” Power said.
After the murder, Ryan Elder spent six days coming and going from the mobile home he shared with his mother until police performing a wellness check found him in the home with his mother’s body.
Speaking directly to Ryan Elder, Power said he has been unwilling in the past to acknowledge his mental-health diagnosis.
“You are now going to have the opportunity for the rest of your life to have treatment with respect to that disorder, and you are going to have to live with the consequences of what your disorder has resulted in, which is the death of your mother. I wish you success with your treatment and your rehabilitation.”
Ryan Elder is expected within 45 days to go in front of a review board, which will determine whether he should be detained in a psychiatric hospital, released with conditions or released without any conditions.
If he is detained or released with conditions, the review board will assess on a yearly basis whether the threat Ryan Elder poses has changed and whether restrictions should be modified.
Ryan Elder’s father and stepsister testified at trial that he was a normal, bright, happy kid until his early 20s, when he moved to Vancouver to work with his father and began acting erratically, showering infrequently and talking to himself or to people who weren’t there.
Speaking outside the courthouse, family and friends said Ryan Elder wasn’t the same when he returned from Vancouver, but they believe he deserves to be in prison.
Alex McEwen, Raymonde Elder’s brother, noted his nephew sat in the prisoner’s box calmly and quietly throughout the lengthy trial, without any disruption.
“Is that a psychotic person? Was that somebody with schizophrenia? … He’s a con man. That’s what he is. He’s a con man. And he conned everybody in there,” he said.
McEwen believes Ryan Elder was in a drug-induced state at the time of the murder, leading him to lash out in rage. He should have been kept in hospital for his mental health, he said.
“I blame the mental-health system for the murder of my sister. That’s who I blame,” he said.
McEwen said he struggles with the guilt of wishing he could have prevented his sister’s death.
Marlene Zwicker, who had been friends with Raymonde Elder for 30 years, said she’s afraid for her safety and that of all of the friends and family who watched the trial.
“We’ve all been sitting there this whole time. If he’s out on the street and he sees one of us. I’ll be looking over my shoulder from now on,” she said.
Raymonde Elder was the person who always brought people together for celebrations, said Julie Rumak, a long-time friend.
She was in the process of planning her 60th birthday party when she was killed, said Rumak, whose home is decorated with photos of Raymonde Elder from three decades of friendship.
“We miss her every day.”
