‘If my neighbour can do this to my brother it can happen to anyone’: Man who gunned down neighbour not criminally responsible due to schizophrenia

Nikko Sienna was a funny, smart and kind 28-year-old man with a loving family, large circle of friends and bright future when next-door neighbour Mark Duckett broke into his family's Magnolia Drive home and shot him 12 times for no reason.

Duckett emptied his legally owned nine-millimetre Glock pistol into Nikko, who bravely ran up the stairs from the basement after hearing smashing glass from Duckett breaking the front door. Duckett then reloaded and fired again.

There was no dispute between the neighbours in the lead-up to the shooting around 1 a.m. on July 30, 2019. The families were not friends but were cordial, court heard. Yet unbeknownst to the Sienna family, Duckett was harbouring a growing delusion that his neighbours were out to get him.

On Tuesday, before a packed courtroom of Nikko's family and friends, Superior Court Justice Andrew Goodman found Duckett not criminally responsible (NCR) of first-degree murder because of mental illness.

Nothing that I can say today can reduce or remove the pain and suffering of those in attendance here in this very packed courtroom," Goodman said, adding that their hurt and sense of loss is quite evident, as is their love for Nikko.

However, he said the evidence was overwhelming" that Duckett suffered from schizophrenia and did not know right from wrong when he shot the 28-year-old.

Goodman's ruling was based off of two expert forensic psychiatric reports. The first was requested by defence attorney Asgar Manek and concluded Duckett ought to be found NCR. This prompted the court to order a second, independent assessment in November that ultimately came to same conclusion.

Dr. Gary Chaimowitz, head of forensic psychiatry at St. Joseph's West 5th Campus, told the court it was his opinion with medical certainty" that Duckett suffers from paranoid schizophrenia and did not have the capacity at the time of the shooting to know what he was doing was morally wrong.

Chaimowitz said schizophrenia can develop quite slowly and insidiously," but based on his assessment, he believes Duckett began exhibiting symptoms as far back as 2014, with intensification over the two years leading up to the shooting. Duckett heard voices and was paranoid neighbours were talking about him. He would scream in his room and sometimes did bizarre things like throw himself to the ground and do summersaults.

However, Duckett had no prior record, no history of psychiatric care and was able to maintain a job. Chaimowitz noted that one of the tragic aspects" of this type of schizophrenia is that a person can appear for all intents and purposes normal," but inside the person's head they are harbouring delusional thoughts.

In this case Duckett was able to retrieve his handgun, load it, break into the home and shoot Nikko, before getting into his car and driving to the Mountain police station to turn himself in. Chaimowitz said there is evidence Duckett knew what he did was legally wrong, but not morally.

For the Sienna family and friends, the NCR ruling was an injustice. In gut-wrenching victim impact statements, family told the court they live in fear Duckett will get out and find them. Court heard there is no evidence Duckett targeted Nikko specifically, but was paranoid about all the neighbours.

Nikko's father, Louis, told the court a piece of his heart died with his son. His mom, Cathy, said a piece of her soul is missing.

Nikko had just moved back into his mom's house with his girlfriend, Jennifer Gibson, so they could save money to buy their own place. He had recently started working his dream job. The family didn't even know Mark Duckett's name.

In the lead-up to the shooting, Nikko's sister, Alex, noticed the neighbour looking into her basement bedroom window. The night of the shooting he was banging on her windows. Alex, Nikko and Gibson went upstairs to see what was going on and saw Duckett hiding in the bushes, court heard. Nikko asked him to stop, but Duckett didn't respond. Soon after they saw who they believed to be Duckett peeking in the window and shining a flashlight, so they called police around 10 p.m. Hamilton police responded and spoke with Duckett who denied wrongdoing. Court heard he appeared intensely calm." He was given a warning.

In victim impact statements, the family said they were failed by police who did nothing when they reported their concerns.

Duckett had obtained a firearm licence and purchased a gun that February. According to the agreed statement of facts, his mother signed the application form, but did not realize what she was signing and his parents maintain they did not know he had a gun.

Nikko was shot three hours after that first call to police.

Cathy told the court that at first she thought it was the neighbour throwing rocks and then she realized he was entering her home. Then she heard the gunshots. Hiding under her bed she thought: I'm next." She called 911 and, in her quietest voice, asked for help. Then she heard her daughter Alex shriek not my brother." When she opened her door she saw her son facedown in a pool of blood.

Alex remembers hearing her brother say, No, you don't have to do this," before bang, bang, bang." When she came upstairs the air smelled of blood and gunpowder.

If my neighbour can do this to my brother it can happen to anyone," she said.

Gibson, Nikko's girlfriend, said he saved her life. He died a hero."

Court heard Nikko's death has a far-reaching impact. His loved ones described living in fear, a family torn apart, not being able to enjoy things that remind them of Nikko - country music, hockey, fishing. There is also the loss of what never happened: no wedding, no grandkids, no chance to see the great man he was becoming.

Manek, Duckett's lawyer, told the court his client wanted to apologize to the family, but given the high emotions in the courtroom said it was best Duckett not speak.

At the request of the Sienna family, Goodman recommended that Duckett be moved to a hospital outside of Hamilton. However, the ultimate decision on his movement remains with the Ontario Review Board, which assesses NCR cases annually.

Court heard Duckett has been taking medication and his condition has slowly improved, however, he still has some symptoms and will require ongoing treatment for the foreseeable future.

Nicole O'Reilly is a crime and justice reporter at The Spectator. noreilly@thespec.com