Christine Russell, the widow of Sgt. Ryan Russell, accompanied by Mike McCormack, president of the Toronto Police Association, fights back tears as she speaks about Richard Kachkar, 46, being found not criminally responsible for the death of Sgt. Ryan Russell in Toronto on March 27, 2013.Peter Power/The Globe and Mail
The widow of a slain Toronto police officer says she is angry that Richard Kachkar killed her husband and caused her family a lifetime of damage.
Kachkar, 46, was found not criminally responsible last month, meaning that his mental illness rendered him unable to appreciate what he was doing when he hit and killed Sgt. Ryan Russell with a stolen snowplow.
The Ontario Review Board is holding the first hearing Friday in Kachkar's case to determine what should happen to him.
Christine Russell delivered a victim impact statement in which she spoke of how hard it's been for her since her husband's death.
Both the lawyer for Kachkar and the Crown are jointly asking the board to send him to a psychiatric hospital in Whitby, Ont.
The board can decide to detain Kachkar at a psychiatric hospital, or set him free with or without conditions.
If they order him detained, which is the most likely decision, Kachkar will have such hearings on an annual basis.
Christine Russell told the board she was able to see her husband's body in the hospital, but it was mostly covered to hide all his injuries, she said.
"I was told that Ryan was a crime scene, therefore I couldn't touch him, couldn't go near him, couldn't kiss him goodbye," she said.
"I would like Richard Kachkar to know that the man you killed was an outstanding person."