Man not criminally responsible in death

Judge says accused was suffering from psychosis when he set nursing student on fire on TTC bus

- BETSY POWELL

Nyima Dolma, 28, died in hospital 18 days after she was set on fire aboard a TTC bus in June 2022. Her attacker, Tenzin Norbu, 41, was charged with first-degree murder and was found not criminally responsible by a judge on Tuesday.

A man who set a Toronto nursing student on fire, sending her running from a TTC Kipling bus engulfed in flames on June 17, 2022, has been found not criminally responsible on account of a mental disorder.

Nyima Dolma, 28, died 18 days later in hospital, and her attacker, Tenzin Norbu, 41, was charged with first-degree murder.

On Tuesday, Justice Maureen Forestell said that following a hearing on Monday she has determined that despite evidence of planning and deliberation — Norbu was found with a Mason jar filled with lighter fluid, which he used to douse Dolma before setting her alight with a lighter — he is not guilty of first-degree murder due to his active psychosis at the time.

Both the Crown and the defence agreed Norbu should be deemed not criminally responsible due to the psychosis caused by his schizophrenia.