'Nothing but complete empathy': Thomas Hamp's father addresses Sanche family at murder trial
CTV
The second-degree murder trial of Thomas Hamp is being adjourned until December so an expert witness central to the trial can testify.
The second-degree murder trial of Thomas Hamp is being adjourned until December so an expert witness central to the trial can testify.
After the Crown made its case earlier in the week, the trial was adjourned Thursday with one witness left for the defence — a psychiatric doctor who has previously assessed Hamp.
"We hate to delay things, but in our justice system we make sure we do things right," defence attorney Brian Pfefferle said outside Court of King's Bench. "And that's what this is about, making sure we do things right."
Thomas admits to fatally stabbing his girlfriend Emily Sanche on Feb. 20, 2022, but Pfefferle is arguing he should not be held criminally responsible because of mental illness.
Pfefferle says new evidence in the case came to light just one week ago. The court learned Wednesday that Thomas wrote a series of letters while in jail as a form of therapy. He wrote the letters to members of the Sanche family but sent them to his parents’ home.
Police intercepted some of these letters and Thomas' parents willingly handed over others after realizing they could be used as evidence in the case.
In one instance, Thomas told his parents not to open the letters. In one letter to Catherine Sanche, a cousin and best friend of Sanche, Thomas wrote about his escalating psychosis in the fall of 2021 leading up to the attack.
