05-05-2025
Late-hour NCR assessment ordered for Laurence Bistoyong, found guilty in stabbing murder of cousin Mark
A judge has ordered an assessment that will offer a mental-health opinion on whether
Laureano Bistoyong
was 'not criminally responsible' (NCR) when he
stabbed his 16-year old cousin
Mark to death in the summer of 2023.
Last October, Laureano (known as Laurence by family) was found guilty of second-degree murder. He had stabbed Mark in the chest with a large knife at a family gathering. Mark died from blood loss.
Laurence's sentencing hearing began in late December, with victim impact statements read in court, and had
resumed Jan. 10
when the process was delayed pending a mental-health assessment for Laurence — but one that did not ultimately include the NCR component.
In court Friday, Laurence's lawyer, Jaime Stephenson, asked Justice Andrew Goodman to grant the NCR assessment.
Stephenson quoted from a letter dated April 15 from Dr. Joe Duboff, a forensic psychiatrist at St. Joseph's Healthcare, that said based on a reading of Laurence's file, the 'defence of not criminally responsible may be available.'
Laureano (Laurence) Bistoyong in an undated photo. He was found guilty of second-degree murder in his cousin Mark's death in October 2024.
Crown prosecutor Michael Dean countered in court that he had 'concerns' about granting the NCR assessment, in part because 'nothing was ultimately produced' by the defence at trial regarding Laurence's mental health.
He added that to the extent Laurence has exhibited a decline in his mental health, 'it is consistent with someone who has been in custody for nearly two years,' but that there is no 'nexus' between his current state of mind, and the stabbing on July 2, 2023.
When Goodman found Laurence guilty, he had told court that he was 'still left with a single question' of why Laurence — who was 22 at the time of the homicide — had stabbed his cousin.
NCR assessments, when ordered, are typically conducted for a defendant after a finding of guilt is made in court. It's unclear what weight the judge will place upon the medical opinion that comes out of Laurence's NCR assessment, that will occur over the course of 60 days.
Several of Mark's family and friends gathered in court Friday, and were visibly upset with the NCR assessment development.
St. Thomas More Catholic High School football players gather for a prayer following a game in October 2023 that was played in honour of teammate Mark Bistoyong, who was stabbed to death by his cousin three months earlier.
Merl Bistoyong, Mark's mother, told the Spectator that permitting the assessment 'at such a late juncture … sets a bad precedent considering the defendant has no history of mental illness and was found mentally fit to stand at trial.'
She added that repeated 'concessions and considerations' toward Laurence, 'who has already been found guilty of the murder of our son is truly shocking and disappointing.'
