Woman who fatally stabbed stranger in Toronto PATH given absolute discharge

Rohinie Bisesar, pictured in a courtroom sketch from April 22, 2015.

A woman who stabbed a stranger to death in Toronto’s underground PATH system while suffering a psychotic episode 10 years ago has been handed an absolute discharge.

It was back on Dec. 11, 2015, when Rohinie Bisesar, now 51, walked into a Shoppers Drug Mart near Wellington Street and fatally stabbed 28-year-old Rosemarie (Kim) Junor in the heart as she was chatting with a friend on the phone and shopping for nail polish.

The two women had no previous interaction in the store or beforehand.

Junor, who had recently been married, later died in hospital.

The murder of a stranger by a petite woman who held an MBA and had worked on Bay Street shocked the city.

Bisesar, was eventually found not criminally responsible for the murder in 2018 because of her mental illness, which had caused her to hear voices. Prior to the murder, she had received treatment for delusional disorder, and chronic paranoid schizophrenia.

She lived at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health for five years after the killing.

In 2019, the Ontario Review Board found that Bisesar lacked insight into her crime and remained a significant threat to the public. She continued to send out job applications despite being held in a secure wing.

Bisesar currently lives in independent housing. She has lived in the community since 2021, volunteering and “improving her education” while considering part-time work.

In a June 3 report, the Ontario Review Board laid out its reasoning for the absolute discharge, acknowledging that the crime was “shocking and brutal,” but said Bisesar has shown a strong commitment to getting well.

“The death of an unsuspecting stranger in the centre of Toronto quietly going about some shopping strikes at all of society. Ms. Bisesar was then, however, floridly psychotic, untreated and desperately unwell at that time,” the board wrote.

“Thankfully, Ms. Bisesar was a patient who did respond to treatment. Through the impressive assistance of the psychiatrist and the entire forensic team, coupled with an unwavering commitment by the patient to do everything possible she could to get better, Ms. Bisesar is ready to be released from the jurisdiction of the Board.”

Bisesar is taking two antipsychotic medications, including one that is taken orally daily, and another long-acting injectable that is taken once a month. According to the report, she has shown no evidence of psychosis for years.

“Ms. Bisesar understands that she has a major mental illness that requires treatment in perpetuity,” the review board report states.

“The long -acting medication and supportive family numbers (sic) are added protections. Ms. Bisesar has a well-developed community safety plan, and she and her family are knowledgeable and vigilant regarding the possibility of emergent symptoms.”

The absolute discharge essentially ends all legal proceedings and conditions for Bisesar in connection with Junor’s killing.

However, the board report says she will continue to participate in the Psychosis Coordinated Care Service through CAMH.

“The hospital will also be approaching the downtown central clinic run by the hospital to assume care. There will be no gaps in treatment,” the report states.

The report adds that “while the tragedy cannot be undone and will always be on our minds, Ms. Bisesar no longer is a significant threat to the safety of the public, and the law requires that an absolute discharge must be imposed.”