Woman sent for psychiatric assessment

A Clare woman accused of approaching someone to kill her estranged husband has been sent for a 30-day psychiatric assessment following her first court appearance since her arrest.

Thirty-eight-year-old Nicole Patricia Ryan appeared in provincial court in Comeauville on Monday. The charge before the court is that Ryan counselled someone to commit murder, although the Crown indicated it would seek an amendment to change the wording of the charge to procuring someone to commit murder.

Court documents list the person she is alleged to have approached as being an RCMP officer.

The officer was working undercover and the alleged meeting is said to have occurred in Bridgetown.

The RCMP don’t want to get into a lot of specifics about the case, calling the investigation ‘sensitive.’

Ryan, a teacher at Ecole secondaire de Clare, was arrested last Thursday in her car. She’s been in custody since her arrest. She was represented in court by defence lawyer Joel Pink who asked the court that the assessment explore whether the defendant was criminally responsible at the time of the alleged offence and whether she is fit to stand trial.

The RCMP contacted the woman’s estranged husband last week by telephone to advise him of the alleged plot.

Although the matter is before the court, the RCMP investigation continues.

“Absolutely,” says RCMP Sergeant Mark Gallagher.

“I know there are people asking if there are other people involved, but that’s what we’re exploring, “ he said Tuesday morning. “If someone is this desperate, how many people have been approached? We need to make sure we cover all of our bases here and continue with the investigation.”