The Ontario Review Board’s decision comes despite Osman Osman still being deemed a ‘significant threat’ to public safety.
Published on October 14, 2025, by Michele Mandel, the article discusses the case of Julia Ferguson, a 29-year-old receptionist who tragically died in a Toronto hospital in 2021 after being stabbed while working at the criminal defense law firm Hicks Adams LLP.
Just a year after being found not criminally responsible for Ferguson’s fatal stabbing, Osman has been granted increased freedoms, despite opposition from the Attorney General’s Office and Ferguson’s family and friends.
During his annual Ontario Review Board hearing, the panel acknowledged that Osman suffers from schizophrenia, becomes psychotic when he stops taking his medication, and still poses a “significant threat” to the community. Nevertheless, they sided with his lawyer and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, allowing Osman to have expanded privileges, including community living in supervised housing for the upcoming year.
He has yet to receive unsupervised passes from the hospital.
“What’s the rush?” questioned Ferguson’s brother, Chris. “This is someone who consciously went off his medication and killed an innocent person, and just four years later, it’s, ‘We really want to get him back into the community?’ It’s insane. I just can’t wrap my head around it.”
The decision contradicts the Justice for Julia Ferguson petition launched by her family, which states: “If Osman requires medication to prevent him from harming innocent people, he should not be granted the privilege of living among the public. We urge the Ontario Review Board to keep him in secure psychiatric detention, deny any conditional or absolute release, and prioritize public safety.”
The ORB was informed that Osman, now 33, began making threatening phone calls and sending emails to the staff at Hicks Adams in August 2021, targeting Ferguson among others. On August 30, the hearing revealed, Osman sent her threatening messages, referring to her in derogatory terms and instructing her not to contact him.