Man fatally pushes elderly stranger in front of train, thought he was his landlord

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A man killed a stranger who he thought was his former landlord by pushing him in front of an oncoming train in Toronto, Canada.

John Reszetnik, 55, pushed 73-year-old Yosuke Hayahara in front of an eastbound train at the Bloor-Yonge Station in Toronto back in June 2018, as per Global News on Jan. 28.

In a virtual hearing on Thursday, Jan. 28, Reszetnik recalled that he admitted committing the crime to firefighters who responded to the scene at the time.

Reszetnik, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, said he was one of the last to leave the train station after it got locked down due to the incident.

After leaving the platform, Reszetnik reportedly tried to enter again but was stopped by authorities. He then walked up to a firefighter in the driver’s seat of a firetruck to confess his crime and claimed it was due to his mental illness.

After being asked why he pushed the stranger, he replied, “I thought it was my landlord, he evicted me,” according to the report.

A few minutes later, he also approached a police officer to confess, and was quoted as saying, “I did it. I pushed him. I killed him.”

As he was arrested for aggravated assault, Reszetnik also argued to police: “I murdered him. What are you doing? It’s not an assault. It’s murder. I murdered him, I pushed him in front of the subway.”

Reszetnik also admitted that he “freaked out” and that he did not know why police did not immediately arrest him, arguing that his crime should have been caught by security cameras.

“I imagined my landlord, who – he’s evicting me, and I can’t find a place and I’ll be homeless … I really did it. It’s no joke, I killed him for God’s sakes,” he was quoted as saying.

The Crown has since suggested that he undergo a Section 21 mental health assessment before his sentencing in March. Justice John McMahon also urged Reszetnik to undergo the assessment as he believes that mental health “may have played a significant factor.”

“To ensure this never happens again and to ensure you get the help you need, and it may impact how long the sentence would be, it would be in your best interest,” he was quoted as saying directly to Reszetnik via the virtual meeting.

Earlier this month, McMahon told the court that Reszetnik would be sentenced to a period of parole ineligibility of 10 to 18 years, the report said. The sentence for second-degree murder is an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for 10 to 25 years. Ian Biong /ra

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