A forensic psychiatrist told court Tuesday that Daniel Sylvester never intended to kill Alicia Ross, but acted "merely to make a statement that he had had enough."

Dr. Mark Ben-Aron, a defence witness, told the jury of eight women and four men in a Newmarket, Ont., courtroom that Sylvester suffered from low self-esteem from an early age.

Alicia Ross, 25, went missing on Aug. 17, 2005. Her body was discovered about five weeks later.
(Canadian Press)

Sylvester, 33, is charged with second-degree murder in the slaying of his next-door neighbour in Markham, Ont.

Ben-Aron said Sylvester was picked on by his peers and called a loser. While still in elementary school, Sylvester began seeing psychiatrists and psychologists, the jury heard.

The psychiatrist assessed Sylvester on behalf of the defence shortly after he turned himself in to police about five weeks after the 25-year-old Markham woman went missing Aug. 17, 2005.

The jury heard earlier in the trial that Ross had called Sylvester a loser when she encountered him late at night on a pathway between their homes. In a taped confession, Sylvester details how he slapped her, then continued the attack when she fought back.

Ben-Aron said that in his opinion, when Sylvester was called a loser, he acted in an effort to assert himself and out of a feeling of "not wanting to take it anymore," but did not intend to kill Ross.

Sylvester admitted to killing Ross in a taped police interview. The trial is focusing on whether he intended to kill her.