Howard Richmond might have had flashback after killing wife, psychiatrist says

Canadian soldierHoward Richmond may have experienced a dissociative flashback after he killed his wife but he was not"psychologically absent"as he stabbed her to death, a psychiatrist testified at Richmond's first-degree murder trial.

• IN DEPTH |Howard Richmond trial coverage

Dr. DerekPallandi, who assessed Richmond two years after the killing, said that the smell of 28-year-old Melissa Richmond's blood could have triggered a flashback. ButPallandi pointed out thatRichmondrecalled his hand on the knife as he stabbed his wife.

"He wasn't completely absent,"Pallandi said.

Richmond, 53, admitted to killing his wifeat the outset of his trial in September butpleaded not guilty to first-degree murder. His lawyers have argued he is not criminally responsible because he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorderat the time of the killing in July 2013, brought on by six tours of duty.

Forensic psychologist Charles Ewingtestified for the defence earlier this week thatRichmond did not recall killing his wife until nine months later because he was suffering from traumatic amnesia.

Richmond testified in October that he and his wife planned a sex role-playing game in which he would pretend to be a "bad man" attacking her in a ravine near South Keys Shopping Centre. He said he brought a screwdriver and knife to cut off her clothes but a loud sound triggered a flashback to a 1992 military tour in Croatia.

Pallandi, who testified as a Crown witness,questioned whether a sound could, in a moment, send Richmond"100 miles an hour into adissociative state."

Closing arguments next week

The court previously heard that Melissa Richmond was having an affair and planned to leave her husband days before she was killed.

Her lover, Jeff Thornton, testified that she warned she'd be "dead" if her husband ever found out about the affair.

Howard Richmond testified that he did not know about the affair until a detective told him after her death.

He initially told police his wife went for a late-night drive on July 24, 2013 and did not return to their home in Winchester, Ont. Her body was found onJuly 28, 2013.

Police searched the Richmonds' home five days after Melissa was found dead, and discovereda knife and a screwdriver wrapped in bloody clotheswedgedbetween the ceiling rafters and the furnace duct in the basement.

The Crown and defence are expected to deliver closing arguments in the case next week.