‘You weren’t hearing voices’: Peer Khairi invented symptoms of mental illness, Crown says

Megan O'Toole | Nov 2, 2012 2:26 PM ET | Last Updated: Nov 3, 2012 9:49 AM ET
More from Megan O'Toole | @megan_otoole

Mike Faille / National Post Peer Khairi is shown in this Oct. 31 courtroom sketch. 

 

TORONTO — An Afghan immigrant accused of murdering his wife to preserve the family’s Muslim honour erupted in front of a Superior Court jury Friday, entreating them to believe him after the Crown systematically dismantled his bizarre and often contradictory versions of events.
“Who would know better, the doctors or the police?” Peer Khairi demanded through a Dari interpreter, jabbing his finger toward a grisly photo of his blood-soaked wife. Prompting his outburst, the Crown had cited blood-spatter evidence to suggest Mr. Khairi slit his wife’s throat before stabbing her in the chest.

“I know better,” said the accused, glaring toward the jury box. Blood would not “jump up” from her throat onto the wall, he continued, pointing clinically at his wife’s wounded body, at the bloodied sheets.

Mr. Khairi is charged with second-degree murder, while the defence argues that he didn’t have the requisite mindset to be found guilty. But for three days, Mr. Khairi’s testimony has been plagued by contradictions, inconsistencies, and an outright refusal to accept overwhelming evidence about the manner of 53-year-old Randjida Khairi’s death.

He has been studiously working against himself, introducing a theory of self-defence only to foil it during cross-examination Friday. He now says he strangled 53-year-old Randjida Khairi into unconsciousness before inflicting the fatal wounds.

“I removed my hand off her throat… She was not conscious [when I stabbed her]. I think I did it twice,” Mr. Khairi testified.

But there were five separate torso wounds, in addition to a deep gash across the victim’s throat, Crown attorney Amanda Camara pointed out.

“It’s possible I stabbed her more,” Mr. Khairi conceded.

The court has heard significant variance in Mr. Khairi’s statements to police, Afghan counsellors, doctors and the court. Among the strangest was his claim to be 10 years older than his officially stated age of 65 — even though he could not cite his birthday when asked.

The larger flaws, however, centre upon Mr. Khairi’s recollections of his wife’s 2008 slaying, an event the Crown alleges was precipitated by the accused’s fury at his family’s drift from traditional Muslim values.

It’s possible I stabbed her more

Mr. Khairi has offered conflicting versions of how his wife died, either by strangulation or knife wounds to the chest. (Forensic evidence has confirmed it was actually the gash across Randjida Khairi’s throat that killed her; Mr. Khairi has been loathe to acknowledge he inflicted this wound, saying he only pressed a knife “lightly” to her throat.)

Mr. Khairi has also offered varying motives, in one case telling the court he acted out of self-defence after his wife unleashed a torrent of “unbearable” insults and lunged at him with a knife. Yet during his three-hour police interrogation on March 19, 2008, he failed to whisper a word of this.

“The reason you didn’t mention to police about Randjida attacking you with the knife or using foul language was because that didn’t happen,” Ms. Camara suggested.

“No, that was not the case,” Mr. Khairi testified. “They told me not to say anything before the lawyer is present.”

It’s completely wrong

Mr. Khairi gave yet another motive to a doctor who conducted a pretrial assessment of his mental health, saying he “snapped for no apparent reason,” according to evidence cited Friday by the Crown.
“With no reason?” Mr. Khairi asked incredulously.

“That’s what you told [the doctor],” Ms. Camara replied.

“It’s completely wrong,” the accused testified.

And so it was all day. For hours, Ms. Camara painstakingly recounted Mr. Khairi’s past statements about his wife’s slaying, and asked whether they were true. Most of the time, his answer was a resounding “no.” He did not recall speaking of his wife’s threats to leave him. He did not recall complaining about how she planned to cut off his access to her disability payments. He did not recall telling a psychiatrist that he repeatedly attempted suicide as a manipulative trick to ensure his family’s obedience.

“I have never said the whole truth until now,” Mr. Khairi testified.

Certain details about Mr. Khairi’s mental health also failed to emerge until just months before the crime, casting doubt on their veracity, Ms. Camara said.

You can think whatever you like

For instance, Mr. Khairi told a doctor during a pretrial assessment that he heard “voices” telling him to kill himself and sometimes woke up screaming in the months and years before he slit Randjida Khairi’s throat. Yet he never shared this information with police or other doctors, despite numerous previous opportunities, Ms. Camara said. She accused Mr. Khairi of inventing the symptoms to gain sympathy and conceal his motive.

“The truth is, there were no voices talking to you at night,” Ms. Camara suggested.

“You can think whatever you like,” Mr. Khairi replied.

“There were no screaming fits,” Ms. Camara continued.

Said the accused: “I know better.”

The trial resumes next week.

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