A Thompson Rivers University student has pleaded guilty to threatening to kill his instructor after receiving a poor grade.
Robert Tetz was charged with uttering threats for the incident at the university on March 6 this year.
Crown lawyer Monica Fras said Tetz was in the office of his instructor, Teressa Fedorak, receiving feedback on an assignment. He was studying to teach English as a second language.
After receiving the report, Fras said Tetz started to yell at Fedorak, calling her names before leaving.
He returned when another student was in the office.
“He returned and indicated it wasn’t over — that it wasn’t fair and Ms. Fedorak couldn’t do this to him,” Fras said.
At that point Fedorak called for security.
“He responded, ‘Don’t you dare call security or I’ll come back and kill you,'” Fras said.
Tetz was arrested in the TRU parking lot by RCMP.
Defence lawyer Eric Rinz said Tetz has recently been diagnosed with autism and also suffers from anxiety and attention deficit disorder.
The 42-year-old lives in a separate suite in his parents’ home.
“Mr. Tetz, through his whole life, has difficulty with anxiety and depression. . . . More recently he’s had a diagnosis for autism-spectrum disorder.”
Tetz and his instructor had tense interactions in past, he noted.
Provincial court judge Len Marchand agreed with a joint submission by Crown and defence for a conditional discharge and a 12-month probation period.
“People at work and instructors have the right to feel safe at all times,” Marchand said, noting events like these “can have lasting impacts.”
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