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'Satan' blamed for killer crash in King
Mentally ill man not at fault, judge says

Dec 7, 2003
Jeff Mitchell, Staff Writer - More from this author

Ricky Fothergill was in a delusional frenzy and believed he was being pursued by Satan when his stolen car slammed into an oncoming vehicle in King Township, killing an elderly woman, a court heard Thursday.

"I am possessed. I don't know why I did it," the Toronto man told witnesses gathered at the crash that killed 65-year-old Anna Luisi of Etobicoke last February.

Superior Court Justice Edwin Minden found Mr. Fothergill not criminally responsible on charges including manslaughter, robbery and criminal negligence.

Mr. Fothergill, 31, continues to be held in custody. His case will be referred to the Ontario Review Board, which will decide if he should remain in custody.

The ruling came after the Crown and defence agreed Mr. Fothergill should not be found guilty because his behaviour was caused by mental illness.

Two psychiatrists testified Mr. Fothergill, who has a lengthy history of mental illness, was in no state to rationalize his actions when he stole a taxi Feb. 7 and sped north on Hwy. 27, weaving dangerously through traffic and running red lights.

"I still believe the severity of his symptoms led him to not comprehend his own actions," Dr. Jonathan Rootenberg told the court.

The psychiatrist said Mr. Fothergill, who has bipolar disorder, grew increasingly agitated, delusional and paranoid in the days leading up to the incident. On the morning of Feb. 7 the man became completely unhinged as he stood gazing in the mirror, Dr. Rootenberg said.

"He could not recognize his own face," said the psychiatrist, who examined the man in late February. "He said he felt he was Satan."

Fearing those around him meant him harm, the panicked man tried to flee the city.

"He felt he needed to get out of town, out of 'Satan's playground'," Dr. Rootenberg said.

According to an agreed statement of facts read into the record by prosecutor Peter Westgate, Mr. Fothergill hailed a cab at the Bramalea GO station and shortly thereafter stole the car, shoving the driver out of the vehicle.

He drove north on Hwy. 27 at about 140 km-h, recklessly passing northbound traffic and roaring through red lights, Mr. Westgate said.

Just north of King-Vaughan Road near Nobleton, the stolen Crown Victoria was passing vehicles when it slammed into a southbound van driven by Donato Luisi, 69, of Etobicoke.

The Luisi vehicle spun into the northbound lane, where it was hit by another vehicle. Mrs. Luisi, who had accompanied her husband north for the day to check on the family cottage, died of her injuries. Mr. Luisi sustained serious injuries.

The driver of the third vehicle, Albert Kooy of Bradford, sustained minor injuries. Mr. Fothergill's leg was broken and he was charged after being released from hospital later in February.

Subsequent psychiatric evaluations revealed Mr. Fothergill's history of mental illness and several instances when he was committed to hospital. He also gave consistent accounts of his deterioration in the days before he stole the cab, Dr. Robert Dickey said.

"This man has a mental illness," Dr. Dickey said.

"He would have been unable to engage in rational choice at the time of the events."

While Mrs. Luisi's family accept the verdict, it does not reduce the pain they feel at the loss of a beloved mother, wife, and grandmother, they said in a statement.

"Emotionally we are in tatters, still very grief-stricken over the senseless loss of our mother," Mary Bianca, Mrs. Luisi's mother, told the court.

"She was everything to all of us. Our lives without her have been so empty and miserable."

Ms Bianca told Justice Minden about the shock of learning about the accident when police officers visited her home and the horror of having to identify her mother's body while her father lay, gravely injured, in Sunnybrook hospital.

"Accident or not, Fothergill took away what is most important in our lives," Ms Bianca said, weeping.

"She was taken away by voices in Fothergill's head."