VANCOUVER — A man accused of killing another man at a Vancouver café patio says he found the knife he used in an alley and took it as a “sign from God” that he needed to protect himself.
Inderdeep Singh Gosal, 34, pleaded not guilty last month to second-degree murder in the death of Paul Schmidt on March 26, 2023.
He told his B.C. Supreme Court trial on Tuesday that in March 2023 he had been off his antipsychotic medication for about three months, which had led to a fight with his father the day of the stabbing.
“He was upset and concerned about me not taking medication,” Gosal said of his father.
Gosal said he took transit into downtown Vancouver after the argument and had stopped to urinate in an alleyway, where he saw the knife “in good condition” on the ledge of a dumpster.
“People have been aggressive toward me, especially downtown and on TransLink, and I took it as a sign from God to protect myself,” Gosal told the trial.
He testified that he pocketed the weapon before walking to the Starbucks patio, where he began smoking a cigar that may have had marijuana in it.
Gosal said Schmidt swore at him from across the patio, sparking a verbal altercation.
“I was anxious that he might attack me,” Gosal said, adding he felt relieved when Schmidt walked away.
But, Gosal said, Schmidt then handed the child he was with to a woman before initiating a physical altercation.
“I remember trying to push him away more than once,” he said, describing the confrontation as a blur.
Gosal said he remembered grabbing the knife.
“I was afraid that I was going to die and I was trying to push him away multiple times and it wasn’t working so I ended up stabbing him,” Gosal said. “I needed to protect myself or else I was going to die.”
CCTV footage presented earlier at the trial showed the confrontation between the two men that turned physical when Schmidt approached Gosal. Schmidt was stabbed six times in the chest and was left lying in a pool of blood.
When asked if he wanted to kill anyone that day, Gosal said “no, not at all,” adding that he only learned how many times he had stabbed Schmidt during the trial.
He testified that after Schmidt fell to the ground, he went inside the Starbucks and called for an ambulance.
Gosal said he told first responders when they arrived that he had stabbed the man.
But, he said he later lied to police by telling them he had consumed more beers than he had at lunch and that he had purchased the knife at a store.
“I thought it would allow me to go home that night,” Gosal said.
Earlier Tuesday, Gosal’s lawyer Gloria Ng told the court her client suffers from psychosis and schizophrenia and was unmedicated on the day of the killing.
She said the defence will show through the testimony of Gosal and a psychiatrist that her client did not intend to kill Schmidt and, while he meant to cause harm, he did not have the mental capacity to understand that his actions would cause death.
“The question the court has to answer is whether the Crown has established, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Mr. Gosal had the intent to kill Mr. Schmidt, reckless or not,” Ng said.
“The defence will ultimately ask this court to find Mr. Gosal guilty of manslaughter of Mr. Schmidt, but not guilty of second-degree murder.”
Gosal told the judge on Tuesday that he had initially been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and depression in 2014 after he began having hallucinations and delusions.
He said he believed he was receiving “messages” from the TV about death, citing cancer and funeral commercials.
He also recalled hearing the sound of crows and noticing people dressed in the colour white, which he told the court signified death in South Asian culture.
Gosal said he began worrying that those were signs warning him of harm toward himself or a loved one.
After he was arrested and brought to the jail, a psychiatrist prescribed a different anti-psychotic medication, which he has taken “every day since,” Gosal said.
“I feel much better, the symptoms are less and I feel there has been a big improvement over three years,” he said, noting that while many of his symptoms have lessened, some persist.
“I can control myself now. I picture a stop sign that says stop and that helps,” he said.
Gosal has not yet faced cross-examination.
Crown prosecutor Karin Blok said on the first day of the trial by judge alone last month that the “primary issue” was intent and whether it could be proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Gosal intended to cause Schmidt harm that he knew was likely to cause death.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 3, 2026.
Brieanna Charlebois, The Canadian Press
