Dangerously Psychotic Yet He Lives Free To Reoffend

"He reported not having consumed alcohol beforehand but did use crystal methamphetamine, along with two or three joints of cannabis."

"He reported hearing voices both with and without the use of crystal methamphetamine, but they became worse when he used the substance."

"Counsel for all parties agreed that Mr. Pillar represented a significant threat to public safety [and that his ban on] the non-medical use of alcohol or other intoxicating substances [should be dropped]."

"[In the years before the stabbing he was the subject of] multiple Community Treatment Orders, during which Mr. Pillar continued to use drugs and alcohol and was non-compliant with his prescribed medication and appointments."

"The history also includes several attempts at mental health diversion for various criminal charges. His reported symptoms, when unwell, included command auditory hallucinations to kill both men and women, but chiefly women." 

Ontario Review Board

 

"In a significant legal decision, the Ontario Review Board lifted a drug ban for Richard P. Pillar, who was found not criminally responsible for a violent incident in Windsor. On September 28, 2016."

"At approximately 11 a.m., 83-year-old Rina Campagna was attacked and severely injured by Pillar near a bank."

"The attack, which occurred in Windsor, Ontario, left Campagna with the loss of an eye. Pillar, who suffers from multiple mental health disorders, was under the influence of drugs at the time."

UL Lawyers Professional Corporation 

Photograph of assaulted 83-year-old woman being taken to hospital by paramedics. Photo: Postmedia

 

Found not criminally responsible after stabbing an 83-year-old stranger in the eye, an Ontario man has had his drug ban lifted, despite that he had used crystal methamphetamine and smoked two or three joints of cannabis beforehand. Diagnosed with schizophrenia, social anxiety disorder and substance use disorder, Richard P. Pillar, with his anti-social personality disorder and borderline intellectual functioning was found, at trial, not criminally responsible of aggravated assault after his attack on Rina Campagna.

 

Walking unaccompanied to a Windsor bank on September 28, 2016, the elderly woman was accosted by Pillar from behind, and brought to the ground. Her assailant took hold of the woman's head and with a knife, stabbed one of her eyes. Ms. Campagna was left with severe injuries that included loss of the injured eye, pointed out the independent tribunal tasked with reviewing the status of individuals found not criminally responsible for violent crimes they commit. 

 

Witnesses at the scene recounted seeing Pillar discarding his clothing as he fled the area. An arrest took place within the day. Pillar had been bound by two probation orders which prohibited him from weapons possession, at the time of the attack on the woman. Neither victim nor attacker were known to one another. Pillar informed authorities that he deliberately withheld taking his antipsychotic injection two weeks previous to the attack. "He wanted to see what it was like if he did not take the medication", the ORB decision noted. 

 

In this Sept. 28, 2016, file photo, Windsor police, paramedic and fire emergency response crews converge in the 1300 block of Ottawa Street following a brutal stabbing attack on an elderly woman. Photo by Jason Kryk /Windsor Star

 

"I no longer feel safe and secure doing my daily routine like shopping, visiting people or going to church."

"[I've missed important family events], because I thought I looked like a monster. I don’t feel good about myself anymore."

"I say no to a lot of friends asking me to come over because I am afraid to walk alone and I have a hard time talking in a group back and forth with one eye and double vision."

"And I am so scared that if he ever gets out he might come back to attack me again."

Victim Impact Statement, Rina Campagna  

The day previous to Pillar's attack on Ms. Campagna he had made a failed effort  to attack another pedestrian, but his aim was deflected. He was given a discharge by the ORB in March of 2025 with conditions attached, that he report to a  hospital at least twice monthly, "abstain from intoxicants, submit samples for analysis [and] refrain from the possession of weapons". At the time Pillar had lived for four years in the community with no recorded hospital readmissions.

 

Now 37, Pillar lives alone in a subsidized one-bedroom apartment in St. Thomas, Ontario. The psychiatric medical team that has been overseeing his conditions advised the Review Board that they're in the process of preparing Pillar to be discharged from the forensic system, and recommends a removal of the 'abstain' clause from his disposition. 

 

Mental health issues and criminal behaviour marked Pillar's early life, beginning when he started using alcohol at age nine, cannabis at age 11, cocaine at age 14, and crystal methamphetamine at age 25. In April 2017, in pretrial detention, he struck a correctional officer, stating that voices instructed him to hit correctional staff. Months following his hospital admission as a result of the stabbing, he attacked a nursing station where a female staff member had retreated when he became angry.  

 

Police investigate area on Ottawa Street where Richard Pillar stabbed an 83 year-old woman in 2016. (CBC File)

 

"He ... continued to fixate on the [female medical] staff member, stating that he wanted to kill her. He also threatened to stab someone in the eye and kill them if he gained weight from his injection of antipsychotic medication."

"He was placed in seclusion and later tried to grab a female staff member through an opening in the seclusion room door."

"[A resurgence of symptoms], resulting from medication ineffectiveness of non-adherence, substance use, or all three, is likely to have very serious consequences."

"That history, including but not limited to the index offences, involves acting on command hallucinations directing him to harm or kill people."

Ontario Review Board