Drug ban lifted for Ontario man who stabbed 83-year-old stranger while on drugs
An Ontario man found not criminally responsible for stabbing an 83-year-old stranger in the eye after using crystal methamphetamine and smoking two or three cannabis joints has seen his drug ban lifted.
Richard P. Pillar — who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia; social anxiety disorder; substance use disorder, in remission; antisocial personality disorder; and borderline intellectual functioning — was found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder in April 2018 on charges of aggravated assault and failure to comply with a probation order.
“On Wednesday, September 28, 2016, at approximately 11 a.m., 83-year-old Rina Campagna was walking alone to the bank. Suddenly and without warning, she was accosted from behind and taken to the ground by Mr. Pillar. Mr. Pillar grabbed Ms. Campagna’s head and stabbed her in the eye with a knife. Ms. Campagna suffered severe injuries as a result of the attack, including the loss of one of her eyes,” said a recent decision from the Ontario Review Board (ORB).
“Ms. Campagna and Mr. Pillar had never met before and there was no provocation.”
As Pillar “fled the scene, witnesses observed him discarding his clothing,” said the decision from the independent tribunal that regularly reviews the status of individuals found not criminally responsible due to mental disorder.
Pillar was arrested later the same day for the knife attack in Windsor, Ont.
“He was identified by surveillance footage, and the knife and his clothing were recovered. At the time of the attack, Mr. Pillar was bound by two separate probation orders, both of which prohibited him from possessing any weapons.”
Pillar later told authorities “that he was two weeks late for his Abilify (antipsychotic) injection on the day of the index offences. He wanted to see what it was like if he did not take his medication,” said the decision.
“He reported not having consumed alcohol beforehand but did use crystal methamphetamine, along with two or three joints of cannabis. He reported hearing voices both with and without the use of crystal methamphetamine, but they became worse when he used the substance.”
Pillar had also consumed a bottle of tequila two or three days before the stabbing.
“It was noted that on the day before the index offences, he had swung at another pedestrian but missed,” said the decision. “He was also seen throwing things in public.”
In March 2025, the ORB granted Pillar a discharge with several conditions, including that he report to a hospital at least twice a month, “abstain from intoxicants, submit samples for analysis, (and) refrain from the possession of weapons,” said the April 15 decision, which notes Pillar has lived in the community since November 2021, with no readmissions to hospital.
The 37-year-old now lives in a subsidized one-bedroom apartment in St. Thomas.
His psychiatrist “stated that the treatment team is seeking to prepare Mr. Pillar for discharge from the forensic system, and is therefore recommending a removal of the ‘abstain’ clause from his disposition,” said the recent ORB decision.
“To be clear, the treatment team prefers that Mr. Pillar not use substances, so (his psychiatrist) sees the coming reporting year as an important time of testing for him. There have been some indications that Mr. Pillar may wish to use alcohol or cannabis. In (his psychiatrist’s) opinion, decompensation would be quick if he were to use either substance.”
During a hearing last month at the Southwest Centre for Forensic Mental Health Care “counsel for all parties agreed that Mr. Pillar represented a significant threat to public safety” and that his ban on “the non-medical use of alcohol or other intoxicating substances” should be dropped, said the decision.
Pillar’s life before the stabbing “was marked by heavy substance use, mental health issues, and criminal behaviour,” said the decision. “He reportedly started using alcohol when he was nine years old.”
Pillar “started using cannabis at age 11, cocaine at age 14, and crystal methamphetamine at age 25.”
While he drank alcohol and used other drugs, “crystal methamphetamine was the drug that he used most from age 25 or 26 onward,” said the decision.
In the years before the stabbing, he was the subject of “multiple Community Treatment Orders, during which Mr. Pillar continued to use drugs and alcohol and was non-compliant with his prescribed medication and appointments,” said the decision. “The history also includes several attempts at mental health diversion for various criminal charges. His reported symptoms, when unwell, included command auditory hallucinations to kill both men and women, but chiefly women. Notably, while in pre-trial detention at the South-West Detention Centre in April of 2017, he struck a correctional officer and explained that he did so in response to voices telling him to hit staff.”
In August 2018, months after he was admitted to hospital because of the stabbing, “Pillar became violent and attacked a nursing station to which a female staff member had retreated from him after he became angry with her,” said the decision. “He had engaged in significant environmental damage and continued to fixate on the staff member, stating that he wanted to kill her. He also threatened to stab someone in the eye and kill them if he gained weight from his injection of antipsychotic medication. He was placed in seclusion and later tried to grab a female staff member through an opening in the seclusion room door.”
Pillar “continued to display unpredictable and angry behaviour through his initial reporting period following his NCR finding,” said the decision. “He often glared angrily at staff, was observed responding to internal stimuli, and acknowledged experiencing both auditory and visual hallucinations.”
In November 2018, Pillar started taking clozapine, an anti-psychotic, said the decision. “His mental state gradually improved and Mr. Pillar reported that his hallucinations gradually ceased after he started receiving clozapine.”
Pillar relapsed in May 2019, said the decision. “He was glaring into the nursing station with clenched fists, was experiencing restlessness and difficulty settling at night, and was anxious and preoccupied in his thoughts. During this time, he was tapered off one of his antipsychotic medications. However, he eventually tested positive for methamphetamines and later admitted its use during the period of the behavioural changes described.”
Doctors upped Pillar’s clozapine dose “in October of 2019 after he impulsively attacked and repeatedly punched another patient with a closed fist. The victim sustained multiple blows to the head and bruising and edema to the right eye and cheek.”
Once he started living in the community, Pillar joined the St. Thomas YMCA and a boxing club.
But his “clozapine levels continued to fluctuate during the 2023 reporting period. It was noted that his illness and symptoms remain brittle and that his mental state remains in need of constant observation,” said the decision.
Pillar has asked “his treatment team whether he would ever be able to have a glass of wine with his family on special occasions,” said the decision. “Education was provided and he agreed that partaking in any alcohol use (when his disposition permits) could be a ‘slippery slope.’”
According to his hospital report, Pillar “remained abstinent from all substances throughout the (past year) and noted that he achieved five years of sobriety on December 5, 2025.”
Pillar’s caregivers have persuaded him to keep his cigarette smoking down “to a level that allows his clozapine to remain at a therapeutic level,” said the decision. “However, absent this ongoing encouragement and support, his smoking could easily increase to the point that his clozapine loses its therapeutic effect.”
A resurgence of active symptoms, “resulting from medication ineffectiveness or non-adherence, substance use, or all three, is likely to have very serious consequences,” said the decision.
“That history, including but not limited to the index offences, involves acting on command hallucinations directing him to harm or kill people.”
The next year “will be an important time of testing of Mr. Pillar’s resolve to maintain his abstinence,” said the decision, which notes he’ll undergo random testing for drug use.
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