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The woman charged over the apparently random and unprovoked fatal stabbing in Toronto’s financial district is “like a deer in the headlights,” her lawyer said after she made a brief court appearance Friday morning.
Courtesy of Karl Gutowski
Rohinie Bisesar's mental health has deteriorated in the last several years, a friend says.
“It’s tragic all around,” her lawyer, Calvin Barry said outside court. He expressed sympathy for the family of the 28-year-old victim, Rosemarie Junor.
If found guilty, Bisesar faces a minimum sentence of life in prison with no parole for between 10 and 25 years.
“We’ve kind of gone from a one to a 10 in terms of severity,” Barry said of the murder charge.
Sketch by Pam DaviesRohinie Bisesar handcuffed enters court with her lawyer Calvin Barry, centre, at College Park court Wednesday.
Bisesar smiled slightly as she walked into the courtroom and was led into the prisoner’s box. She was dressed in a dark green sweatsuit that hung off her petite frame. She is about 4-foot-11 and weighs about 85 pounds, her lawyer said.
Bisesar did not address the court, but whispered something to her lawyer before she was led out.
She will be held at a prison in Milton, Ont., until her next court appearance on Jan. 8. Her lawyer said it has been hard to confer with his “meek and quiet” client while she has been in custody, surrounded by other prisoners.
“Everybody’s yelling and screaming,” he said. “It’s similar to American TV.”
Aileen Donnelly / National Post“It’s tragic all around,” Rohinie Bisesar's lawyer, Calvin Barry, said outside court.
Barry said he’s been unable to assess his client’s mental state or whether she understands what’s going on.
But she is “very upset — she’s like a deer in the headlights,” he said.
A friend said that Bisesar had struggled with mental illness in recent years, and was hospitalized in 2014.
Although she graduated with an MBA from York University’s Schulich School of Business, she struggled to find work in the financial sector, Karl Gutowski said.
The Crown dropped all other charges against Bisesar, because, as Barry said, a charge for carrying a concealed weapon is “like a parking ticket” compared to second-degree murder.
Police allege Bisesar stabbed Junor last Friday afternoon, fatally wounding the young newlywed.
Police say the two did not know each other.
FacebookRosemarie Junor in an undated photo.
Junor, who also went by “Kim,” was described by friends, former colleagues and family as “dedicated” and “glowing.”
Her brother, Richard Junor, told CTV News that “she was a very kind, loving, caring person.”
“She was young, energetic and hardworking,” he said. “She just got married, got a house, (was) planning to have a family and we’re all sorry that she’s gone so early.”
The Junor family has set up an online fundraising account to help cover funeral costs.
With files from Richard Warnica, National Post and The Canadian Press
