Ian Bush is shown in his LinkedIn profile photo.
Facing a cloud of suspicion for one of Ottawa's most-enduring unsolved murders, Ian Bush, 59, has emerged from a psychiatric assessment fit to stand trial in a more recent home invasion.
Wearing a black leather jacket and no handcuffs, Mr. Bush appeared briefly before a packed Ottawa court on Friday.
A Crown attorney told the court that a full 30-day evaluation had been completed and "there are no NCR [not criminally responsible] issues that have been identified."
The court ordered the assessment after he was arrested and charged for an alleged attack last December on Ernest Côté, a 101-year-old Second World War veteran.
He is alleged to have stolen the veteran's credit cards and left him bound with a plastic bag over his head.
Mr. Bush is facing charges for attempted murder; robbery; forcible confinement; breaking and entering; two counts of using a credit card obtained through criminal means; and 11 new charges for weapons possession.
Several investigators from the Ottawa Police Major Crimes Unit sat in the gallery. While they refused to comment after the proceeding, they did say a new development in the case is forthcoming.
It is believed the new wrinkle will relate to the 2007 triple murder of former tax court judge Alban Garon, his wife, Raymonde, and a neighbour, Marie-Claire Beniskos.
Several local media outlets have reported that Mr. Bush will be charged with the murder on Friday or Saturday.
Following the arrest, police executed two search warrants, one to take a DNA sample, the other to search Mr. Bush's residence, according to his lawyer, Geraldine Castle-Trudel.
None of the allegations have been proven and police have announced no charges in the Garon case.
Patrick White