Man who randomly stabbed Maple Leaf Foods co-workers found not criminally responsible

Matthew McLean was sitting alone at a table in the lunchroom of Maple Leaf Foods around 4 a.m. on Feb. 25 when, without warning, he grabbed a woman at the next table by her hair and began stabbing her.

Eimy Novoa-Urrego tried to fight him off, but he stabbed her eight times all over her body.

McLean thought the 19-year-old was grinning at him; that he was the brunt of a joke about dead bodies, said Crown attorney Janet Booy, reading from an agreed statement of facts in court.

The paranoia was part of a growing delusion that people at work were out to get him. Multiple employees had complained about his behaviour in the months leading up to the horrific attack.

That morning, co-workers inside the Glover Road building in Glanbrook tried to stop McLean, but he broke free. Hearing the commotion, Alhan Khamo approached the cafeteria doorway and screamed.

McLean's attention shifted to the 49-year-old and he stabbed her several times in the stomach.

Khamo fell to the ground in a ball," Booy said. She was then stabbed in the shoulder.

On Wednesday, Ontario Court Justice Bernd Zabel found McLean not criminally responsible of two counts of aggravated assault because of mental illness.

The Crown and defence attorney Peter Boushy jointly asked court for that finding. It was based on the expert opinion of forensic psychiatrist Dr. Maaz Usmani, who assessed McLean at St. Joseph's West 5th Campus, where the 40-year-old McLean remains indefinitely.

Usmani diagnosed McLean with delusional disorder, a type of psychotic illness where a person has false, fixed beliefs. In McLean's case, the delusions were persecutory beliefs" that began to manifest more than a year before the attack.

He believed there was a conspiracy to get him fired, that he was going to be locked in the industrial oven, that co-workers tried to drive him off the road. Outside of work he had a belief that there was a conspiracy to give him a sexually transmitted disease.

As part of Usmani's assessment, he and others spoke with McLean, but he also spoke with family and obtained other records, including McLean's human resource records from Maple Leaf Foods.

Over his six years working there, he had been involved in 15 disciplinary incidents that escalated over time. In the seven weeks before the attack, there were six complaints about his behaviour.

On Jan. 6, he was wandering around work with a knife, ripping down signs. He was handed a five-day suspension but allowed to come back to work. Other incidents involved yelling at co-workers, grabbing them and staring at them.

On the day of the attack, Usmani concluded McLean knew what he was doing, but was not capable of morally understanding his actions.

In a victim impact statement, which Booy read to the court, Novoa-Urrego said she lives in fear and with lasting injuries. She thinks about the attack daily.

I see the blood, the knife and the eyes of my aggressor," she said, adding that she's afraid of people with the same colour eyes.

She's afraid he will attack her again and she's afraid of another stranger attacking her.

Sometimes I feel like he's knocking at the door and has come inside," she said.

Novoa-Urrego still requires further surgery for her injuries. Three fingers on her right hand are paralyzed, making everyday tasks difficult. It hurts to sit or bend, she's ashamed" of her scars. She has nightmares, is tired and isolated from others.

On the day of the attack, McLean fled to his Main Street West apartment. When Hamilton police arrived they could see blood in his car. As they approached his sixth-floor unit he exited with a bottle of Hennessy in his left hand and a large backpack. McLean was arrested at gunpoint.

He had a large hunting knife on his belt and a folding knife in his pocket. Inside the backpack, police found a hatchet, water purification tablets, duct tape and other survival-kit items. He had also packed medications for chronic health issues and cannabis.

Usmani said McLean claimed he feared Maple Leaf Foods would send thugs" after him and he was preparing to run. He was relieved when it was uniformed police who showed up.

In video statement to police, McLean admitted what happened and expressed remorse. He didn't know Novoa-Urrego, but he did recognize Khamo as a woman who was nice and would say hello in the hallway over the years. He didn't realize it was her at the time.

Booy asked whether there was any indication the victims were targeted because they're women or because of race (he's white and they are not). Usmani acknowledged that part of McLean's delusion was an idea that foreign or non-unionized workers were trying to push him out. But there was no indication that the victims were specifically targeted.

This is a very, very unfortunate and difficult matter," Zabel said on Wednesday, adding that his heart goes out to both victims.

Nicole O'Reilly is a Hamilton-based reporter covering crime and justice for The Spectator. Reach her via email: noreilly@thespec.com