The lawyer for Alexander James Thorpe – an Airdrie resident who was charged with killing his mother in January – says the defence will be seeking a not criminally responsible (NCR) verdict once the case goes to trial.
Since his arrest for second-degree murder in the homicide of his mother Melanie Lowen on Jan. 14, Thorpe has been held at the Southern Alberta Forensic Psychiatry Centre. The 20-year-old Airdronian appeared virtually in provincial court on April 21, where his lawyers waived his right to a preliminary inquiry, consenting to Thorpe's committal for trial.
After the court appearance, defence attorney Balfour Der said the reason for waiving Thorpe's right to a preliminary inquiry was to speed up the legal process and bring the matter to trial.
“Murder cases must be tried at Court of Queen’s Bench,” he explained. “The fact it’s a trial at Queen’s Bench means that before there can be a trial, there has to be a preliminary inquiry at provincial court, and the preliminary inquiry is to determine if there’s enough evidence to keep the matter going to trial.
“Today, we waived the necessity of a preliminary inquiry and asked that the case be sent directly to Queen’s Bench, which it has been. We did so in the effort to speed up this process. We are hopeful we’ll expedite any trial and be able to finish the case as quickly as we can.”
Thorpe will return to court on May 27 to determine a trial date, according to Der, who said the defence's argument at trial will be that Thorpe was not criminally responsible for killing his mother due to a mental disorder.
“It is fair to say we are going down the road of a not criminally responsible verdict,” he said. “The defence is certainly going down that road right now. Any NCR decision is a trial decision – it’s for a judge to make at a trial.”
A prior Airdrie RCMP press release states police were first called Jan. 14 about a man in medical distress at a northeast Airdrie business around 8 a.m. that morning. An assessment led Mounties to conduct the check on a residence, where Lowen's body was found.
According to prior reporting from the Airdrie City View, Thorpe is a George McDougall High School alumnus who graduated from the school in 2019. He made headlines that year by being one of three Airdrie students to score 100 per cent on one of his diploma exams that January, and also captained the Mustangs soccer team that spring. His LinkedIn page indicates he was the school's valedictorian, and he later attended the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.
Der said Thorpe is coping reasonably well at the Southern Alberta Forensic Psychiatry Centre, given the tragic circumstances.
“Considering the circumstances and how important the relationship was between the mother and son, he’s doing relatively well,” he said. “Fortunately he has some family and friends who support him, so that helps him.
“He’s not having a good time, but he’s able to get by, day to day.”
