As he prepares to make the cut at The 151st Open, Michael Stewart sips a beer from his ice cooler and smiles at his twin sister. Rebecca has travelled from St. Catharines, where she is studying brewing at Niagara College. She’s back in Ontario for a couple of weeks before heading to northern B.C. to do tree planting for the summer.

Twelve years ago, while in a severe psychotic episode that had gripped him for decades, 23-year-old Michael Stewart killed his mother June at her home in Renfrew, Ont. He was found not criminally responsible for her death after a mental health judge ruled he did not understand the severity of his actions, was operating in a false world of hallucinations and delusions.

The incident, which occurred around 2 a.m. on Sept. 15, 1983, was captured on video by police officers. Officer John Kostick said Stewart was initially cordial before running off and had to be restrained. “At the top [of the stairs], he fell face-forward on the ground,” he would later say in court, adding that he held Stewart to the ground until the van arrived and officers put him inside.

Today, Mike focuses his legal practice on representing families across the United States in product liability, wrongful death and railroad injury cases. In addition, he was instrumental in securing a $60 million class action settlement on behalf of 170 Haitian boys who were abused by a Connecticut Jesuit school administrator.