2 days ago
After recent arrest, review board mulls fate of former Kitchener man who killed wife, blew up home
The Ontario Review Board is expected to decide the fate of a former Kitchener, Ont., man who killed his wife and blew up their home in 2018 after he was arrested in April for allegedly harassing a woman he met while speed dating.
In 2023, Udo Haan, 65, was found not criminally responsible for the death of his wife Edra Haan.
Emergency crews were called to a home on Sprucedale Crescent in Kitchener just after 8 a.m. on Aug. 22, 2018. They found the body of 58-year-old Edra Haan in the back yard of the home. Udo Haan was critically injured and airlifted to a Hamilton hospital.
The Kitchener court heard Udo Haan suffered from major depressive disorder with psychotic features, or delusional disorder, when he killed his wife. An agreed statement of facts noted the couple, who had been married for 40 years, were in the process of separating in the summer of 2018.
He has spent time at the Southwest Centre for Forensic Mental Health Care in St. Thomas and since September 2024, has been allowed to live in an apartment in the town.
The Ontario Review Board reviews dispositions for people who are found not criminally responsible for their crimes or who are found to be unfit to stand trial.
A report to the review board by the forensic hospital, operated by St. Joseph's Health Care, said he takes lithium, used for patients with bipolar disorder as a mood stabilizer, and the anti-psychotic medication Seroquel. His medication was reduced in December 2024 and again in February 2025 at his request because Haan had expressed concerns the lithium was having on his thyroid.
The report said Haan had told his care team in late March of this year about meeting a woman in his building during a speed dating event. He said he understood "she needed a friend, not a boyfriend" and he wanted to help her out. The woman was a recent immigrant from India who did not have family living nearby, had few friends and she struggled with depression.
When outreach teams attempted to call him twice on April 10, he did not answer his phone. They went to visit Haan for a scheduled appointment on April 16, but he was not home.
On April 18, he was arrested after the woman from his building alleged Haan was harassing her.
"When police arrived at his apartment, they found him drinking beer and smoking joints of cannabis," the report said, noting Haan has been ordered to abstain from both drugs and alcohol.
He was arrested and returned to the hospital where he was observed experiencing bipolar symptoms, "likely primarily triggered by sub-optimal treatment and driven by cannabis and alcohol use" as well as stress.
The report details erratic behaviour by Haan over the next week, including yelling at staff, getting upset about clothing, saying he could get weapons into the hospital if he wanted to and indicating he had a "hot date" on the weekend so he could not stay in the hospital.
On April 24, it was determined Haan was "incapable of making treatment decisions with respect to his bipolar condition."
Haan also expressed paranoid thoughts and claimed someone had threatened to kill him in a message on Facebook, although the report noted no one from the outreach team has seen the post to verify its existence.
He also claimed he had hired a private investigator to follow the woman from his building and "discount her story." This behaviour was similar to when Haan had his wife followed by a private investigator before her death because he was convinced she was having an affair.
Haan remains in the hospital while the Ontario Review Board determines next steps. He has been ordered not to contact the woman from his building and refrain from surveilling her by any means.
A decision from the June 10 hearing is expected within a week, and the reasons will be available within four weeks, the review board says.
