Toronto man not criminally responsible for setting woman on fire

A Toronto man has been found not criminally responsible for setting a woman on fire on a public bus in 2022.

Tenzin Norbu was charged with first-degree murder in the death of a woman who was a stranger to him. On June 17, 2022, Norbu used lighter fluid and a lighter to set a woman on fire on a TTC bus in downtown Toronto, according to an agreed statement of facts before the court.

Norbu pleaded not guilty this week, arguing he was not criminally responsible because he was suffering from schizophrenia.

On Tuesday, Superior Court Justice Maureen Forestell found Norbu not criminally responsible, saying his schizophrenia made him "incapable of appreciating his act was wrong."

Norbu sat alone before the justice as she delivered her verdict, while the family of the woman he killed watching the proceedings by video.

Norbu will now appear at a hearing before an Ontario review board, Forestell said. The board will determine the hospital where he will be held and what privileges, if any, he'll have there, she said.

The board will put the public's safety first in its decision, Forestell said.

Norbu will now appear at a hearing before an Ontario review board for a hearing, Forestell said. The board will determine the hospital where he'll be detained, and what privileges, if any, he'll have there, she said. In its decision, the board will put the public's safety first, Forestell said.

The events of the case

According to the court's agreed statement of facts, on June 17, 2022, Norbu got on a TTC bus in downtown Toronto carrying a bag, and approached a woman he did not know, 28-year-old Nyima Dolma.

He asked her if she was Tibetan, and when she said she was, he reached into his bag for a jar of lighter fluid, which he then poured on the woman before using a lighter to ignite her clothes, the court documents said.

The woman's body was badly burned, and she suffered injuries from smoke inhalation, court documents said. She was taken to hospital, where she died 18 days later.

Nyima Dolma, 28, died of her injuries 18 days after Tenzin Norbu set her on fire in 2022. The two did not know each other. On Tuesday, Norbu was found not criminally responsible for her death. (Toronto Police Service)

Justice Forestell said Tuesday that the lighter fluid Norbu had on him supported the argument he had deliberated and planned to kill the woman that day.

In her decision, she cited earlier testimony from forensic psychiatrist Dr. Alina Iosif, who had told the court she had assessed Norbu, and concluded he was suffering from schizophrenia when he set the woman on fire.

Iosif based her assessment on sessions with Norbu, as well as his medical records, and witness and video evidence from his 2022 attack, the court said.

Iosif testified that Norbu had been misdiagnosed with depression in the years before the bus attack.