The B.C. Supreme Court says a Chilliwack, B.C., man who stabbed his wife to death in 2024 was suffering from a “delusional belief” when the violent killing occurred, finding him not criminally responsible for her murder.

The court ruling posted online Wednesday says Joseph Berkiw, now 70, killed his wife, who can’t be named under a publication ban, while believing he was “saving her” from being tortured or raped by people who were targeting the couple.

It says Berkiw worked as a machinist and had become “preoccupied” with concerns about not getting paid from his job, and began acting in unusual and paranoid ways in the lead-up to the killing.

The ruling says the couple lived with their adult son, who had called police over his father’s “bizarre behaviour” on Jan. 8 and Jan. 12, 2024, bu

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