Jongwon Ham, accused of killing B.C. Mountie, is found mentally unfit for trial

VANCOUVER — The man accused of killing RCMP Const. Shaelyn Yang in a Burnaby, B.C., park has been found mentally unfit to stand trial.

Jongwon Ham, who appeared by video conference in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver, is charged with first-degree murder in the stabbing death of Yang in October 2022.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Michael Tammen said in his ruling that there’s a basis to believe that Ham’s psychosis is getting worse and “his delusions prevent him from making rational decisions” about the court process.

On the day Ham’s first-degree murder trial was due to begin in January, Tammen instead ordered the fitness hearing to determine if Ham had the mental capacity to understand the charge and if he could take part in his own defence.

“Clearly, Mr. Ham’s delusional beliefs are at present overwhelming his ability to understand his legal options and consequences of various possible outcomes. His delusions are preventing him from making rational, reality-based decisions about the trial process and to instruct counsel in that regard,” the judge told the court on Monday.

Two psychiatrists told the hearing that Ham suffers from a psychotic disorder and the court heard both doctors shared the opinion he is unfit for trial.

Yang, a mental health and outreach worker for the RCMP, was stabbed to death on Oct. 18, 2022, when she tried to speak to a man in a tent in Broadview Park in Burnaby, B.C.

Psychiatrist Dr. Mandeep Saini told the hearing that he had six interviews with Ham in January, while Dr. Mario Moscovici, who was called by the defence, conducted a single two-hour interview.

Ham himself, who has been vocal throughout the hearing, also testified, but an interim publication ban prevents reporting of his testimony, or anything he told the psychiatrists.

Saini said he assessed Ham as having a delusional disorder, but he also couldn’t rule out a diagnosis of schizophrenia.

Ham’s lawyer Caroline Senini told the hearing last month that her client does not believe he has delusions, and it would be up to the judge to decide whether he does and, if so, “what that means for his decision-making in the conduct of his defence.”

Prosecutor Colleen Smith had previously told the court that the Crown was not taking a position on Ham’s mental fitness, but said the accused has a nuanced understanding of the trial process.

B.C.’s police watchdog, the Independent Investigations Office, said in a statement in December 2022 that the man in the tent was shot and wounded by Yang.

The IIO investigates incidents of police-involved death or serious harm that may have involved actions or inactions by police.

However, the oversight agency said in the report that its director determined there were no reasonable grounds to believe an officer committed an offence in the shooting.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 20, 2026.

Brieanna Charlebois, The Canadian Press