Dad stabbed to death in front of his toddler at Vancouver Starbucks—killer gets off with lesser charge after mental illness defense

Inderdeep Singh Gosal, 34, has been in custody since 2023 after he stabbed Paul Schmidt, 37, to death with six stab wounds in the father's neck and torso. The incident took place on March 26, 2023.

The incident began when Schmidt confronted Gosal for smoking weed near a table at the entrance of Starbucks on the patio. Footage of the incident showed Schmidt walk up to Gosal while pushing his daughter in a stroller. Schmidt then threw a punch at Gosal, according to surveillance footage.

"Mr Schmidt confronted, punched at and started to corner Mr Gosal," British Columbia Supreme Court Justice Kathleen Ker wrote in her decision. Although there were many inconsistencies with Gosal's testimony regarding his actions, the judge accepted that he feared for his life, per CTV News. She ruled that he went too far, but not to the extent of murder. “He was no longer acting in self-defence, but he was still acting in the heat of the moment, likely disinhibited and angry, and responding to a situation where he perceived his life was in danger,” the judge said in the manslaughter ruling.

Gosal was seen on camera pulling a knife out of his pocket as the confrontation started. 28 seconds after the fight began, Schmidt was lying in a pool of blood on the patio in front of his partner and 3-year-old daughter.

Police arrived on the scene right after the killing, and Gosal told them, "I did it. He came after me," according to police officer testimony.

Although Canadian law says that self-defense has to be proportionate to the threat you are facing, Gosal stabbed Schmidt six times in the torso and the neck. Gosal's lawyers argued in trial that manslaughter was more appropriate than murder because, they claim, the attack involved "overreaction due to mental illness" rather than a "deliberate intent to kill."

Attorneys said that Gosal had schizophrenia and has psychotic symptoms. He had stopped taking his meds three months before the attack and said in court that a knife he claimed to have found in an alley was a "sign from God" he had to protect himself.

At one point in the investigation, however, Gosal claimed that he had bought the knife instead of finding it in some supposed alley. He also exaggerated how much alcohol that he had consumed that day.