Mike Szendrei holds a picture of his daughter Laura during a press conference in North Delta, B.C., October 13, 2010. A forensic psychologist says a young man's belief that he could cure his anxiety around women by having sex drove him to the fatal attack on 15-year-old Laura Szendrei in a Delta, B.C., park. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Richard Lam
July 18, 2013 - 1:28 PM
SURREY, B.C. - A forensic psychologist says a young man's belief that he could cure his anxiety around woman by having sex drove him to the fatal attack on 15-year-old Laura Szendrei (ZEN-dree) in a Delta, B.C., park.
Dr. Robert Ley (LEE) told a Surrey, B.C., court hearing that the man, who can't be identified because he was 17 when he murdered the girl, was bullied and paralyzed by anxiety and fear when he was around teenage girls.
Ley told the court that the offender had yet to hold a girl's hand and he believed other boy's his age were having sex.
The psychologist says he believes the man feels terrible about what he did, a view contrasted to earlier testimony from a psychiatrist who said he believes the man shows no remorse for the murder.
The man, who is now almost 21 years old, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder last year, and is waiting to hear whether he will be sentenced as an adult or as a youth.
Ley says the young man has been lifting weights during his time in custody to improve his fitness because he expects he will have to defend himself in prison.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2013