WINNIPEG — A man who tried to stab a Catholic pastor in the middle of a Sunday religious service last winter had previously gone to hospital and said he planned to kill a priest, a court has been told.
Pawel Olownia has been found not criminally responsible for the Feb. 9 incident at Holy Ghost Parish, which saw him unsuccessfully attempt to attack a pastor with a knife bearing a 10-centimetre blade.
The cleric escaped and, in a move captured on livestream video, Olownia stuck the knife into the altar and was arrested with the help of parishioners including an off-duty police officer who attended the service.
Olownia, who was 50 at the time, was charged with possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose, assault with a weapon and disturbing a religious assembly.
Olownia underwent a psych