Leflar killer doesn't meet psychopathic criteria: expert

The teen who killed Hannah Leflar does not meet the criteria of a psychopath, according to a clinical psychologist.

The sentencing hearing for the teen, who cannot be named, resumed Wednesday with the defence calling on Dr. Terry Nicholaichuk.

Nicholaichuk met with the teen multiple times, conducting a variety of psychological tests.

He described the teen as “emotionally flat, quiet and downcast” but did mention that the teen was very open when talking to him.

In meetings with the teen, Nicholaichuk said he didn’t try to paint himself in some sort of light or blame anyone else for his actions.

He also said the teen didn’t act his age and was immature.

He mentioned the teen has an obsession with a TV show, which he didn’t specify, and collecting plastic knives.

Nicholaichuk performed a psychopathy test on the teen. The test is scored out of 40 and the teen registered a score of 8.4. The criteria for a psychopath is 30/40, with the average score of federal inmates being 20/40.

He said the term psychopath can have a negative impact on people.

Nicholaichuk determined the youth likely suffers from major depressive disorder and has some characteristics of borderline personality disorder.

Nicholaichuk also performed two violent risk scale tests, one for youths and one for adults, on the teen.

Both tests came back with similar results: the youth has about an eight per cent chance to violently re-offend.

There is also a 19 per cent chance the teen re-offends in some way, but not necessarily in a violent manner.

Nicholaichuk said the youth has problems creating meaningful relationships and wants to avoid abandonment. He said it’s important he receives treatment to help him regulate his mood and help function in social interactions.

He said there is a possibility of suicide being the outcome if the youth doesn’t receive proper treatment.