Teen Killer Ruled Mentally Unstable

A judge in Saskatoon ruled that a 15-year-old boy who killed and mutilated a 7-year-old acquaintance in imitation of a horror movie was too mentally unstable to have known what he was doing. The verdict, similar to a U.S. judgment of innocent by reason of insanity, means Sandy Charles will be held for psychiatric assessment. His lawyer said he expects the youth to be ordered to serve a long confinement in a secure treatment facility. Charles told authorities he killed Johnathan Thimpsen after seeing the movie “Warlock,” in which a character can fly after drinking the melted fat of a slain young boy.