Man accused of killing sisters to be assessed on whether he can stand trial

An Ottawa man accused of killing his two sisters last week will undergo an assessment at the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre to determine whether he's fit to stand trial.

• Brother of 2 sisters stabbed to death charged with 1st- and 2nd-degree murder
• 2 women dead, man in custody after double homicide on McCarthy Road

Musab A-Noor, 29, was charged with one count each of first-degree murder and second-degree murder after the bodies of his two sisters 29-year-old NasibaA-Noor and 32-year-old Asma A-Noor were found stabbed in their McCarthy Road home the night of Dec. 16.

Musab A-Noorwas arrested not far from the crime scene that night. He refused to appear in court Sunday morningand was ordered toundergo a psychiatric assessment.

He was scheduled to appear in a mental health courtroom in Ottawa on Monday and again on Wednesday and Friday, but was unable to do so.

Defence lawyer Samir Adam said Friday that his client was in a "catatonic," non-responsive state.

"His non-attendance reflects that there are some significant mental health issues at play. We'll let the doctors flesh out what exactlythat is," Adam said.

"That's why he's not in court. It's not that he's not in court because he doesn't want to attend, it's because he's notin a position to attend."

Adam says Musab's assessment will take five days and will help doctors determine if he can participate in the court process, whether that's understanding the facts of the case or standing trial.

He wouldn't comment on whether Musab has any diagnosed mental health issues, but says it's "clear" he has some.

Musab A-Noor'snext appearance is scheduled for Jan. 4.

Adam said he could appear via videolink or over the phone if he's physically unable to come to the courthouse.

The deaths of theA-Noorsisters last week were the city's23rdand24thhomicides of 2016.

The Ottawa Police Service is currently conducting a review of its historical homicide data, but the last time Ottawa saw this many homicides in a single year was likely 1995 when the number of homicides was somewhere between 23 and 25.