Dante Ognibene-Hebbourn The man accused of killing a security guard at UBC Okanagan in February may not be criminally responsible for the alleged murder due to a mental disorder. Dante Ognibene-Hebbourn, 22, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder on April 5, five weeks after 24-year-old Harmandeep Kaur was killed on UBC Okanagan campus in the early hours of February 26. Kaur worked her night security shift at the university, while Ognibene-Hebbourn worked at the university as a janitor. On Friday morning, Ognibene-Hebbourn’s defense attorney, Grant Gray, applied for a psychiatric evaluation to determine if Ognibene-Hebbourn could be held criminally liable for a mental disorder. He appeared on video from the Okanagan Penitentiary in Oliver, wearing a red sweater. All information given at the hearing is covered by a publication ban. Eventually, Judge Lorianna Bennett accepted the request and Ognibene-Hebbourn will be transferred to Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in Coquitlam for evaluation. A finding that he is not criminally liable for a mental disorder is not an acquittal nor a finding of guilt, but a recognition that the accused was “unable to assess the nature and quality of the act or omission or knew it was wrong,” according to the Justice Department. A person found not to be criminally liable may be released, either on full or conditional terms, or be held in hospital. A person held at Coquitlam Forensic Psychiatric Hospital may remain in custody indefinitely until the BC Review Board decides that they are no longer a danger to the public. The Penal Code states that the detention of an accused in a hospital must balance “the need to protect the public from dangerous persons, the mental state of the accused, the reintegration of the accused into society and the other needs of the accused.” Ognibene-Hebbourn was taken into custody under the Mental Health Act on the morning of 26 February. He remained in custody, first at Kelowna General Hospital and now at the Okanagan Penitentiary. Kaur had moved to Kelowna in 2018 and had just acquired her permanent residence in January after moving to Canada from India in 2015. She was looking forward to her parents’ first visit to Canada in April. A GoFundMe page was created on March 1 to help pay for Kaur’s family’s travel and funeral expenses, along with possible legal fees. While $ 25,000 was targeted, about 1,600 people have donated more than $ 80,000 to the family. “Despite the challenges she faced as she tried to make her way to a new country away from her family in India, she always maintained her positive attitude and determination. “And after years of fighting, she finally took up her permanent residence in January of this year and was incredibly excited that her parents came to visit her this April,” the GoFundMe page reports. “Despite the distance, she was very close to her family – especially her mother. And all those who loved her, and continue to love her, experienced the generous support she would give to those around her. always ready to do anything that made the lives of her loved ones safer and happier “. Ognibene-Hebbourn is scheduled to appear in Kelowna court on June 27, as soon as the evaluation is completed.
