CALGARY 鈥� The mother of a Calgary murder suspect has testified her son was having hallucinations and was in fear of animalistic creatures months before a young woman was stabbed to death on a downtown street.
Michael Adenyi, 29, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of fitness instructor Vanessa Ladouceur. The 30-year-old was walking to work on the morning of March 18, 2022, when she was attacked.
Adenyi has testified he believed he was attacking a creature when he assaulted the woman and that he had to attack first or risk being killed. He has said he only realized what he had done when he cut himself and discovered what really happened.
The jury has heard he used a kitchen knife from his home that he carried in his backpack because he was afraid.
Ferita Loyuk, his mother, told court Tuesday her son started having hallucinations in September 2021, was seeing frightening animals and would take hour-long showers to drown out the voices in his head.
"It was very real to him. I couldn't see anything, but he opened the window and would tell them to get out," she said. "He would say it was some kind of malevolent animal that he has never seen that was trying to hurt him and they must get out of his room.
"Not just regular animals 鈥� they were like bears 鈥� with bald heads, with big eyes."
Loyuk said her son also began wearing his clothes backwards and would have conversations with the laces on his shoes. She said the family sought help in November and he saw a psychiatrist who prescribed Prozac for a depressive disorder.
Adenyi's lawyers have argued he is not criminally responsible by reason of a medical disorder.
Prosecutor Carla MacPhail said there was no mention of Adenyi seeing animals in discussions with the psychiatrist or with police after he was arrested.
"That is not what they were asking us," Loyuk replied.
She said her feelings for her son haven't changed.
"As a parent, I love my son 鈥� before he was mentally sick and even after when he became sick," she said. "I will always love him."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 22, 2025.
Bill Graveland, The Canadian Press
