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“It is a secure facility. It is very much like a jail. In fact, there are probably less facilities there for him than in a jail.”

The judge, who had heard a number of compelling victim impact statements, said she came to her conclusion based on the evidence and the law and hoped that the family members would understand that and come to some peace with the decision.

Court heard that McLeod’s mother discovered her daughter in the kitchen in the lower suite suffering from 13 stab injuries. The victim died later in hospital.

Dillon was seen leaving the premises covered in blood. On the way to his sister’s home, he removed and discarded articles of clothing and his shoes. He was arrested early the following day walking on a rural road near Fort Nelson, a small community in northeastern B.C.

The victim’s mother told police that Dillon had not been paying his rent on time and had broken into McLeod’s suite several times. The day before the slaying, McLeod had arrived home to find her terrarium had been damaged and spiders she kept as pets had been killed.

Dillon confessed to police that he’d assaulted McLeod and had stabbed her at least a dozen times but also spoke of some “crazy dreams or memories” that he had had.

The judge noted the findings of two psychiatrists that at the time of the slaying, Dillon was suffering from schizophrenia and had been actively psychotic in the weeks leading up to, during and after the slaying.

Dillon was suffering from several delusions that caused him to fear for his life, one of them being that McLeod was sending spiders through vents in the house to his basement suite and the spiders were laying eggs under his skin.