After the tragic killing of a Nanaimo resident and worker at Buzz Coffee House, the suspect has been found not criminally responsible due to mental disorder.
Court documents detail the murder of Eric Kutzner, age 79, which took place on Feb. 12, 2022.
At 7:30 am, Kutzner arrived at the coffee shop to prepare it to open at 9 am. Buzz Coffee House is owned by his daughter.
While in the kitchen prepping baked goods, the accused, James Turok, age 30, entered through a door that Kutzner left unlocked for the other employees to arrive.
According to the court documents, Turok, believing the victim was a zombie, then stabbed Kutzner repeatedly around the face, neck, chest and back—12 stab wounds were dealt in total.
At 8:45 am, Kutzner’s colleagues arrived for work and found the door unlocked and then saw his blood soaked legs and Turok walking around, also covered in blood. When police arrived, Turok was found in the office hiding under a desk.
Turok “resisted arrest and made bizarre and often incomprehensible statements,” including statements hostile to Kutzner, such as that “he was a zombie.”
He reportedly continued making these types of statements to police and psychiatric personnel, as well as during some of his early court appearances.
Turok was facing a charge of second degree murder.
In their decision, Justice H. Holmes wrote, “Before I go any further, I wish to expressly acknowledge the awful nature and circumstances of this senseless offense against Mr. Kutzner, that brought his life to an end, and the appalling and no doubt lasting effects the offence must have had on those close to him. I do not wish Mr. Kutzner’s family and friends to feel that he or they have been overlooked in the court process or in these reasons.”
The court heard that Turok has schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type, and has had the diagnosis for many years. He has been hospitalized multiple times since 2012, relapsing after stopping his medication.
At the time of the attack, he had been without antipsychotic medication for nearly a year and a half, “and serious deterioration into relapse was entirely consistent with the demonstrated pattern in his medical history.”
Dr. Kolchak interviewed Turok following the murder, and found that his understanding of the events that unfolded were very different from the “objective facts.”
He claimed to have entered the cafe and asked Kutzner for a snack. He then claimed Kutzner put his hand on a knife, which scared him and ultimately led to the fatal attack.
He also expressed the feeling that the police were “hunting him.”
Kolchak’s medical opinion was that Turok was experiencing a psychotic episode, preventing him from understanding the wrongfulness of his actions.
In later interviews, another physiatrist, Dr. Lacroix said that Turok had little recollection of the incident, and said he was not particularly concerned with zombies, parasites or non-human beings. He also expressed deep remorse about what had happened.
The judge concluded that Turok did commit the act of second degree murder, but could not be held criminally responsible.
Two psychiatrists who gave testimony agreed that Turok’s thought processes were “disorganized to the point that he was unable to interpret events rationally or to make rational decisions.”
“I find also that Mr. Turok’s mental disorder made him incapable of knowing that his actions were wrong,” the judge added.
It was also noted that there has been no indication of violence associated with Turok’s mental illness, until the murder of Kutzner, and there was only one instance of mischief in his criminal record.
Despite the verdict, Turok is not released from custody and remains in the control of the state.
Turok is to be held in custody at the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in Coquitlam, pending a disposition by the Review Board.
