Winnipeg judge removes high

Winnipeg judge removes high-risk label for man found not criminally responsible in parents' killings

Family of victim who survived disappointed in decision, although Trevor Farley will remain in hospital

A Winnipeg man found not criminally responsible for killing his parents and stabbing his former nursing supervisor during a psychotic episode has had a high-risk label removed, in a case marking the first time a Manitoba court has considered a motion involving the rare designation.

The update means the decision on whether to eventually give Trevor Farley a conditional or absolute discharge will now fall to a provincial review board, which is standard practice for people found not criminally responsible.

In 2023, Farley was found not criminally responsible due to mental disorder in the Oct. 27, 2021, stabbing deaths of his 73-year-old parents, Judy Swain and Stuart Farley, at their homes, and the stabbing of his former supervisor Candyce Szkwarek at Seven Oaks General Hospital.

He was labelled what's known as a high-risk accused — the first and only time that designation has been used in Manitoba. That added an extra layer of restriction and meant he would have only been able to get a discharge with approval from a superior court judge.

"The evidence satisfies me that there is no longer a substantial likelihood that Farley will use violence that can endanger the life or safety of another person," Court of King's Bench Justice Kenneth Champagne said in a lengthy Tuesday morning decision in Winnipeg.

Farley sat quietly in the prisoner's box after being brought into the courtroom with his wrists and ankles shackled, wearing a button-down shirt, dress pants and sneakers.

Decision delayed on lifting high-risk label for man found not criminally responsible in parents' killings

"Although the evidence no longer supports [a high-risk accused] designation, the evidence does support and satisfies me that Farley remains a significant threat to public safety."

The judge ordered Farley to continue to be detained in a hospital under any conditions the review board deems appropriate. Court heard he's being held in the Selkirk Mental Health Centre.

Farley, who had worked as a nurse, was experiencing religious delusions at the time of the stabbing attacks. Since then, the judge said he's researched his bipolar disorder and medication, and that his willingness to follow treatment in hospital has been "that of a model patient."

Farley's lawyer Carley Mahoney said the change means his client can now ask for more freedoms, such as passes to go unsupervised on the hospital's grounds or moving from the highly restrictive unit he's currently kept in.

But "he has a long path ahead of him" before any discharges, Mahoney said.

"It's going to be baby steps for Mr. Farley, as it is for all not criminally responsible accused persons. It takes a lot of time," she said after the hearing.

"But this allows him to, rather than bump up against barriers that prevent progress, it allows him to keep going in this structured, supervised setting."

Szkwarek's daughter, Jackie Motoch, said her family was disappointed by the outcome.

Her mom, now 70, couldn't attend court Tuesday because she's in hospital after her 13th surgery related to the stabbing attack, Motoch said.

"This was the only thing that was preventing her from living in fear of him coming back to hurt her again," she told reporters outside court.

"It's something that permeates every thought that she has every day, and it has not really lessened in the five years since the attack."

Motoch said she found some comfort in Farley's lawyer's comments that any discharge would be a long way away and that her mother is trying to focus on the positives in her life.

"She works really hard to deal with the mental and physical fallout from what's happened to her. And her positive attitude is really just something I look up to every day," she said.

Anita Szigeti, a Toronto-based litigator and president of the Law and Mental Disorder Association, said she was "happy and relieved" to hear a court in Manitoba removed someone's high-risk accused label Tuesday.

That's because from what she's seen, the designation is being used more and more across the country, and attempts to have what's intended to be a temporary label removed have largely been unsuccessful.

"One of the things that I think contributed to an increase in its use was the fact that it had come to be believed that it would be near impossible, if not impossible to remove," Szigeti said in a phone interview Tuesday, adding constitutional challenges related to the high-risk accused regime are in the works in Ontario.

She said any indication "courts across the country are recognizing that it's not meant to be permanent, and as people's condition improves and their risk is reduced, that the designation should be lifted … is a good sign."

Champagne said prosecutors could ask for Farley to be given the high-risk label again in the future, if at some point his treatment or medication stops working, or if he refused treatment or became aggressive or violent.

Farley is expected to go before the review board again within 45 days to determine the next steps, and to get annual reviews after that.

Judge revokes high-risk label for man who killed parents in 2021

Caitlyn Gowriluk has been writing for CBC Manitoba since 2019. Her work has also appeared in the Winnipeg Free Press, and in 2021 she was part of an award-winning team recognized by the Radio Television Digital News Association for its breaking news coverage of COVID-19 vaccines. Get in touch with her at caitlyn.gowriluk@cbc.ca.