Montreal filmmaker who killed his mother declared not criminally responsible due to mental illness

A Montreal filmmaker who stabbed his mother to death has been declared not criminally responsible due to his mental state at the time of the murder.

According to a Quebec Superior Court judge, Emmanuel Gendron-Tardif believed his life was like the movie The Truman Show, that he was being filmed and that the people around him were actors. He believed his mother was not his real mother when he killed her the morning of Jan. 25, 2023, in the city’s Centre-Sud neighbourhood.

He also feared he would be killed by his family members and doctors.

Gendron-Tardif, 30, appeared in court Wednesday via videoconference from the Philippe-Pinel psychiatric hospital, where he has been held pending the trial.

He was ordered to remain there and, in 60 days, will be eligible to leave the facility for outings with a trusted person vetted by the institute if his condition permits.

The court heard that he suffers from schizophrenia and was unable to determine right from wrong due to his mental state when he killed his mother, 61-year-old Lysane Gendron.

Gendron-Tardif had pleaded not guilty to a second-degree murder charge.

On the day of the slaying, the court heard that he called his mother, and when she arrived home on Fullum Street, all of the windows and doors were open.

She sent a message to her other son to call 911, but when officers arrived, it was too late. Police found her body in the home with multiple stab wounds. She was declared dead at the scene.

In the weeks leading up to the murder, Gendron-Tardif’s mental state degraded, and he became more isolated and consumed cannabis and magic mushrooms.

According to the judge, without the accused’s mental troubles, the tragic killing would not have happened.

Superior Court Justice Hélène Si Salvo has ordered Gendron-Tardif to take medications prescribed by his doctor and follow the recommendations of his treatment plan.

He is prohibited from using narcotics, including cannabis, and from possessing any weapons.

‘I loved my mother very much’

Gendron-Tardif publicly addressed the court’s finding ahead of the judge’s ruling, writing in a Facebook post about the love he had for his mother, how the illness took control over him, and that he seeks forgiveness.

“I loved my mother very much. There was not the slightest conflict between us. Only tenderness, kindness, respect and admiration,” he wrote on April 2.

He went on to say that he discovered his schizophrenia too late and “couldn’t do anything about it.”

“Some people will never want to understand what can go on in the head of someone suffering from schizophrenia when they’re in psychosis. I accept that, I respect it, I don’t judge anyone,” he said.

“But this non-responsibility reflects a profound truth about the fundamental difference between what I am and what I have done. The same goes for the many patients I’ve been living with here at the Institut Philippe-Pinel for over a year. We live with regret and, through serious therapy, we are learning to understand the extent of the lack of understanding that surrounds our illness.”

Brother opens up about family tragedy

In the days before Wednesday’s hearing, his brother, Julien Gendron-Tardif, wrote an open letter in La Presse describing how the tragedy has torn his life apart and that his brother had fallen through the cracks in the mental health-care system.

According to the letter, the accused came from a loving family and never showed any sign of mental distress until the age of 28. He said after a first mental health crisis in 2022, he got help, spent a week in hospital and was prescribed “a low-dose antipsychotic” before his condition improved.

He apparently stopped taking his medication in November 2022, and on Jan. 15, 2023 — a week before the murder — his psychotic symptoms returned with great intensity. The family tried to get him help by contacting crisis centres, the hospital and his specialist but was repeatedly told: “As long as he is not an imminent threat to himself or others, nothing can be done against his will. We must wait. It’s the law,” according to the brother.

In his letter, Julien wrote that he feared that his brother might take his own life, but never suspected he would hurt someone else, especially his mother.

“What I do know is that my brother was never violent. He never was. Our mother was the person he loved most in the world,” he wrote.

Gendron’s killing was the first homicide of 2023 in Montreal. She was an employee for the City of Laval and was remembered by family members for her passion for arts and culture and devotion to her work. Her death shocked several of her colleagues.

Virginie Dufour, the Quebec Liberal MNA for Mille-Îles who worked with her for several years when she was a city councillor in Laval’s Saint-Rose district, said after the killing that her death was “a big loss” for the city, her family and colleagues.

“She brought music directly into the communities, in parks. She really convinced us to finance those projects and to put more money into culture,” Dufour said in an interview at the time.

Sainte-Rose councillor Flavia Alexandra Novac also expressed her sympathies, writing: “Her listening skills, her gentleness and her ideas were part of the many elements that made working with her so enriching and enjoyable.”

With files from CTV News’ Olivia O’Malley.