Arson suspect released to Hillside Centre
A psychiatrist will decide whether a Kamloops woman facing arson charges following a blaze at a North Shore apartment building last month can be held criminally responsible.
Melody Joy Baum is facing one count of arson in relation to an inhabited property and another count of arson damaging property after fire tore through a third-floor suite in an apartment building at 111 Knox St. on May 30.
The 51-year-old appeared briefly in Kamloops provincial court on Monday, June 13.
She has been in custody since turning herself in to police on June 1.
On Monday, she was released on bail with a condition requiring she reside at the Hillside Psychiatric Centre.
Defence lawyer Michelle Stanford
said Baum will undergo testing to determine whether she can be found not criminally responsible by way of a mental disorder (NCRMD).
Court heard Baum, as part of her NCRMD testing, will admit to starting the apartment fire.
Baum will have to abide by a 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew while living at Hillside.
She is due back in court on Aug. 8.
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