Richard Jonathan Edwin admitted in a Toronto courtroom Tuesday that he had fatally shot two strangers in random, unprovoked attacks two days apart from each other in April 2022, but pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder due to a mental disorder.

At the opening day of the judge-alone trial, Superior Court Justice Jane Kelly said the issue she must decide is whether Edwin is not criminally responsible. If Kelly decides he is criminally responsible for one or both attacks, she must then decide whether the attacks were first or second-degree murder.

According to an agreed statement of facts read out in court by assistant Crown attorney Sandra Duffey, Edwin was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2010 when he was 28.

Kelly told Edwin before entering his plea that two forensic p

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