Evidence and testimony of doctors support finding that he was ‘not criminally responsible’
A mentally ill man who killed his wife has not lost his rights as a beneficiary of her life insurance policy, ruled a Nova Scotia judge.
According to Justice Frank Edwards of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia, Richard Dwayne Maidment was not morally responsible for Sarabeth Forbes’ death in 2017.
“There is a public policy rule which says criminals should not be permitted to benefit from their crimes. That public policy rule has no application to this case,” Edwards said in a decision handed down last week. “He is not a criminal.”
As reported by several news outlets, 42-year-old Maidment, also known as Richard Wayne McNeil, was living in Gardiner Mines, Nova Scotia with Forbes and their young son in 2012 when he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. He was forced to leave his job at Nova Scotia Power, and was granted long-term disability benefits.
In 2015, Forbes purchased a life insurance policy from Co-operators Life Insurance Company, naming Maidment as the beneficiary. Their son was identified as a contingent beneficiary in case both of his parents died; Forbes’s mother was named as a trustee for the boy if he were to receive benefits before reaching the age of 25.
In his decision, Edwards noted that Maidment’s wife and family could not get medical help for him, leading to the rapid deterioration of his mental health in 2017. He killed Forbes in their home on April 18 that year; he had reportedly stopped taking his medication, missed meals, and lost sleep in the days leading up to the event, with family members and neighbours testifying that he seemed increasingly paranoid.
He was charged with murder for the act, but was found not criminally responsible “on account of mental disorder” on December 4, 2017. He was subsequently confined to the East Coast Forensic Hospital in the Halifax area.
Earlier this year, Maidment’s mother petitioned for the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia to have him declared as the lawful beneficiary of the insurance policy. Forbes’s mother also applied for her grandson to be declared as the recipient. Because there were competing claims, Co-operators paid the claim to the court for a judge to decide.
“While the particular circumstances leading to Sarabeth's death are fortunately uncommon, the inherent unpredictability, illness and loss are squarely what life insureds seek to guard their loved ones against by purchasing a life insurance policy,” Edwards said.
