Man found not criminally responsible for deaths of two men

The Canadian Press

Glen Race is pictured on Nov. 19, 2010. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan

HALIFAX - The case of a mentally ill Nova Scotia man who claimed to be a vampire slayer when he murdered two men in 2007 concluded today when a judge said he wasn’t criminally responsible for the crimes.

Judge Kevin Coady of Nova Scotia Supreme Court says Glen Race was too mentally ill with schizophrenia to understand that what he was doing was morally wrong.

Race pleaded guilty in September to first-degree murder in the death of Trevor Brewster and second-degree murder in Paul Michael Knott’s death.

At a court hearing in November, an agreed statement of facts said Race killed the two Halifax-area men because he believed he was ordered by angels to cleanse the world of demons and sin.

Within the next 45 days, Race is expected to be sent back to the U.S., where he will continue serving a life sentence for the shooting death of Darcy Manor in Upstate New York — a crime that happened three days after Race killed Brewster.

However, Race’s lawyer has said he plans to file an appeal of the U.S. conviction based on new evidence that wasn’t presented in the New York case.

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version said Race’s lawyer filed an application to have his client declared not criminally responsible this year.