Man who killed Halifax gay rights activist discharged from psychiatric hospital

The man convicted of killing a Halifax gay rights activist has been fully discharged from the East Coast Forensic Hospital in Dartmouth, N.S.

Andre Noel Denny pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the 2012 death of Raymond Taavel, for which he served an eight-year sentence. Taavel died of a brutal beating outside a Halifax bar.   

Denny, who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia, had been in the care of the East Coast Forensic Hospital in 2012 after he was declared not criminally responsible for attacking a woman the year before Taavel's death.

He had received a one-hour pass to leave the hospital, but went missing before Taavel was killed. 

"I was expecting that he would receive an unconditional discharge at some point. So, I am not surprised," said a text from Darren Lewis, Taavel's former common-law partner. 

"That said, I was not made aware by the Crown, which is rather disappointing. I, nor the Taavel family have further comment," the statement said. 

Lack of transparency

The Criminal Code Review Board is responsible for all decisions concerning any accused person who has been found not criminally responsible or unfit to stand trial. 

At a Nov. 27 hearing, the board ordered an absolute discharge for Denny after being in the care of the East Coast Forensic Hospital for the last decade. 

Notice of the hearing was not posted on the board's website before it took place, and the subsequent decision was only posted to the website this week after CBC News inquired about Denny's status.

"The appropriate hearing schedules were not posted online when they should have been," the Department of Justice said in a statement. "We regret this occurred and will improve our processes to ensure the website is updated in a timely manner going forward."