Alex James Thorpe, a young Airdrie man who killed his mother in January 2022, has been granted trips to Calgary by the Alberta Review Board this week.
The Alberta Review Board is made up of lawyers and medical professionals appointed by the provincial government, who still considered Thorpe a threat to public safety and not entitled to an absolute discharge.
He is now allowed, at the discretion of his treatment team at the Southern Alberta Forensic Psychiatric Centre (SAFPC), to go for supervised trips to Calgary with staff or a "responsible adult."
Thorpe is also allowed to attend supervised camping trips, picnics and recreational outings in Alberta, and to go on both supervised and unsupervised visits to area malls.
SAFPC was granted authority by the review board to decide if Thorpe can have unsupervised passes to Calgary to attend programs, medical appointments or "therapeutic activities" or for "leisure purposes," as well as supervised trips to Calgary for up to three days.
The SAFPC also has authority to determine if Thorpe can travel to Winnipeg for up to seven days, while supervised, to visit his grandmother, who may have cancer.
The currently 22-year-old Thorpe, was found not criminally responsible for the January 2022 killing of 48-year-old Melanie Lowen by reason of a mental disorder.
Justice Suzanne Bensler delivered the NCR verdict in the Court of King’s Bench in Calgary on Oct. 21, following a two-day trial.
“I one hundred per cent believe it was the correct verdict because the evidence was so compelling,” said criminal defense lawyer Balfour Der in an interview with Airdrie City View after Bensler's verdict was read in 2022. “Indeed, even the prosecution basically conceded the issue. They did not challenge the medical evidence at all.
“So by everyone’s account, this was the correct verdict.”
During the brief trial, psychiatrist Dr. Kenneth Hashman testified that Thorpe, killed his mother in her home as she lay in bed while he was in the throes of a psychotic episode. The state had been brought on by his undiagnosed bi-polar disorder and a manic state induced by a recent trip to a religious convention called “Passion” for young people in Atlanta.
“As you know, bi-polar means people can go through stages where they are high and low, where they are manic and depressed,” explained Der. “And if, in this case, his manic stage elevated to the point where he became psychotic – he had believed that Satan had possessed his mother, and he was being told by God he needed to kill Satan. So that is what he did, not knowing he was killing his mother.”
This psychotic state continued even after the killing was over as Thorpe, naked, drove to a nearby Airdrie car dealership and entered the building.
“He was listening to a podcast of a religious service while this was going on,” Der said. “It was a continuation of the same thing. He thought he was on a mission from God.”
According to Der, Thorpe also told early witnesses at the scene that he believed Jesus had told him to kill Satan, and that he believed his mother was still alive and well at home.
“What led to that was a finding by the trial judge, supported by the evidence, there was a clear indication that one of two things happened to Thorpe by reason of his mental illness,” Der explained. “Either that he did not know that what he was doing was morally wrong, or that he did not appreciate, or wasn’t capable of appreciating, the nature and quality of his acts.”
Thorpe was confined to a high security mental health facility in Alberta while undergoing further assessment and treatment for his mental illness.
As previously reported in the Airdrie City View, Thorpe was the valedictorian at his high school in Airdrie, and was studying engineering at the University of British Columbia. He made local headlines after scoring 100 per cent on a diploma test in 2019, and was also the captain of his high school's soccer team that year.
Der said the real tragedy of these horrible circumstances is that Thorpe and his mother shared an extremely close bond in life.
“I’ve done what we call Not Criminally Responsible (NCR) cases before – both as a prosecutor and as a defense counsel,” Der said. “They all seem to be somewhat different, (but) this one was very tragic in that Alex and his mother were described by him, and other people, as ‘best friends.’
“Not only were they mother and son, they were best friends. She had raised him alone for many years. It was such a loving relationship between the two of them … This was totally unexpected (that) he would do anything to hurt her.”
- With files from Tim Kalinowski
