Man now charged with N.S. killing ‘graduated’ from wellness court in 2020 after stabbing Mountie

One of the men charged this week with the August 2022 homicide of Barry Albert in Springfield, Annapolis County, “graduated” from Dartmouth wellness court in December 2020 after pleading guilty to assaulting a female Mountie with a knife.

Kris Michael Buttar, 44, is one of three men charged in Albert’s murder. On Dec. 17, 2020, he walked out of Dartmouth wellness court a free man after pleading guilty to assaulting RCMP Const. Adree Zahara with a knife in January 2019.

“Once you got into the program, you worked really hard and from all accounts now from folks who are near and dear to you, they say that they see such a huge difference in you,” Judge Pamela Williams, who was chief judge of the provincial courts at the time, said at Buttar’s December 2020 graduation from the program.

“So, we’re very pleased with the recovery that you’ve made, and everyone’s really excited about being able to see you through this and withdraw the charges and graduate you from the program. So, kudos to you.”

‘Thank you very much’

At that point, Buttar said, “Thank you very much.”

“You are most welcome,” Williams responded.

Buttar then thanked the judge again. “And hopefully I don’t have to run into you guys in these circumstances anymore,” he said.

After the 2019 stabbing, the RCMP said they responded to a report of a man who went to the Cobequid Community Health Centre indicating he was a harm to himself and others, then left the building. When RCMP officers located him in a vehicle in a nearby parking lot, Buttar got out and stabbed Zahara in the leg before another officer Tased him. Police arrested Buttar on the spot and took him to hospital.

Guilty pleas

Buttar applied to take his case to wellness court in June 2019.

He pleaded guilty on Dec. 5, 2019, to assaulting a peace officer and possession of weapon for a dangerous purpose in relation to the Jan. 30, 2019, incident where Zahara was wounded.

To be accepted to wellness court “you have to have a major mental health disorder or substance use disorder that are directly connected with the offence,” said Aileen McGinty, the Crown attorney at Dartmouth wellness court.

‘Kris did very well’

The court doesn’t divulge personal health details.

“The initial offence resulted from a person in distress medical call,” McGinty said.

“I can tell you Kris did very well throughout our program.”

Asked if she’s surprised to see Buttar now charged with murder, the Crown said, “I have no idea what happened with Kris in the two years from when he left us to roughly when the alleged offence occurred. … A lot can happen to people in two years.”

‘It always makes you think’

Seeing Buttar now charged with murder gives her pause.

“It always makes you think,” McGinty said.

“Generally, we’re always learning, we’re always looking to see – I’m not saying that lessons need to be learned in this case – but generally that’s something we do as a team anyway. We’re always reflecting; that’s part of the nature of the process.”

When people aren’t successful after wellness court, “one of our questions is it because of them or because of us? Are we putting the right services in place?” McGinty said.

She conceded Buttar’s case “does stand out, but … on the other side of that, there’s hundreds of people who have graduated successfully and have never gone on to re-offend in any way.”

‘Certain expectations’

Buttar participated in the wellness court process for about 18 months, said McGinty, noting he was a quiet person.

“When somebody is with our program, they have certain expectations,” she said. “They have to attend all their appointments, like with their clinicians, psychiatrists, psychologists, whoever that might be. They have to take their medications as prescribed. … We can access the health records. So, we see whether they’re attending their appointments or not. We see if they’re picking up their prescriptions or not.”

Buttar would have also had to undergo regular substance testing, McGinty said. “It’s random, but it’s once or twice a week.”

For the last three months that a person is in wellness court, they must either also hold a job, be in school, or take on a volunteer placement.

“You don’t graduate unless you’ve done all these things,” McGinty said.

Root causes 

The idea of Dartmouth’s wellness court, which was established in 2009 but under a different name, is to address the root causes of behavior, she said, noting there are similar courts operating now around the province.

“Jail doesn’t really necessarily fix the situation,” McGinty said.

“Some people need to go to jail – absolutely, no doubt about it. But if something has happened because somebody has been ill especially then there’s no point in just sending them to jail because you’re much better trying to get them back on track, getting the proper medication, the proper clinical care … For some people it might be getting them the right education, getting them the right housing support, getting them the right social work support …

Sometimes people come to the attention of the criminal justice system when they’ve fallen through the cracks of the systems that are provided in society. So, it’s much better to get them on track with that and much less chance then that they’re going to go on then and commit another crime.”

‘Overall, it’s a beneficial outcome’

People who graduate from wellness court go on to re-offend less than those who go through the regular court system, she said. “And when they do re-offend, it’s usually a lesser offence.”

While not every case will be successful, “overall, it’s a beneficial outcome,” said McGinty, noting “jail is horrendously expensive.”

Wellness court only takes people “we think we can help,” she said.

“Much better to give them that chance. Does everybody make it through wellness court? Absolutely not.”

‘Notoriously difficult’

People who aren’t meeting the demands of wellness court are sent back to the regular court system for sentencing, she said.

“Even in regular court, nobody can predict risk 100 per cent – notoriously difficult,” McGinty said.

Judges have sentenced Buttar on 20 charges between 2001 and 2017, including credit card forgery, assaulting a peace officer, mischief, theft, breaching court orders, assault with a weapon, break and enter, resisting a peace office and refusing the breathalyzer.