Hospital attack victim relieved by Manitoba’s first-ever ‘high-risk’ court order

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/10/2023 (771 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Candyce Szkwarek says she feels safer now that the man who nearly killed her during a terrifying knife attack at Seven Oaks General Hospital two years ago is subject to a first-time Manitoba court order that will make it harder for him to win release from a psychiatric treatment facility.

“I’m very relieved that it has been put in place and it’s going to take a lot to get it revoked,” Szkwarek said Wednesday outside court.

On Tuesday, Manitoba Court of King’s Bench Justice Ken Champagne found 39-year-old nurse Trevor Farley not criminally responsible for the Oct. 27, 2021 attack on Szkwarek, who was his nursing supervisor, and two separate fatal attacks earlier that same day on his parents Stuart Farley and Judy Swain.

A 52-page forensic report provided to court found that in the weeks and days leading up to the attacks, Farley was suffering from “religious-based command hallucinations” that made him believe the victims were “contaminated with evil” and the evil needed to be “cut out.”

On Wednesday, following an application by prosecutors, Champagne ordered that Farley be designated a high-risk accused, a first in Manitoba since former prime minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative government introduced legislation creating the designation in 2014.

As someone found not criminally responsible for their crimes, Farley’s case will now fall under the jurisdiction of the Criminal Code Review Board, which would normally be tasked with deciding whether he should remain in a secure psychiatric facility, or be subject to a conditional discharge or absolute discharge and release to the community.

As a high-risk accused it is now mandatory that Farley be held in a secure hospital setting. Only a superior court judge can revoke the designation and approve his release from hospital.

“The primary purpose of this legislation and the designation of high-risk accused is to provide an extra measure of protection for the public,” Champagne said. “I don’t hesitate to declare Trevor Farley a high-risk accused.”

Under the legislation, before an offender can be designated a high-risk accused, a judge must be satisfied they will commit violence if released or the crimes for which they are in custody are “so brutal as to indicate a risk of grave physical or psychological harm.”

Farley’s attacks on his parents were swift and relentless, with each victim suffering dozens of stab wounds across their body. Champagne described Farley’s attack on his father Stuart as a “bloodbath.” His attack on Swain less than one hour later, which included the use of an angle grinder and hammer was “beyond brutal,” Champagne said.

The attack on Szkwarek, in a venue people look to as a place of safety, “rises to the level of stark horror,” he said.

Szkwarek and two co-workers who witnessed the attack on her provided victim impact statements to court attesting to the “life-altering and everlasting devastation they have suffered,” Champagne said.

“The common thread running though all the statements is one of fear,” he said. “The extreme violence inflicted on Ms. Szkwarek and witnessed by her co-workers has shattered their sense of safety and security.”

Champagne said he had very little evidence before him of Farley’s current mental condition and was concerned by evidence from his ex-wife suggesting he actively downplayed his mental-health issues in the two years prior to the attacks.

“His avoidance or unwillingness to address the mental-health issue raises concerns of his willingness to follow treatment,” the judge said.

Farley’s ability or inability to appreciate what he has done will be a “serious consideration” when assessing his risk in the future, he said.

“This man is a father of four children, he was a law-abiding member of the community working in a profession dedicated to helping others,” he said. “As he obtains treatment and comes to grips with what he has done, he may have serious difficulties going forward.”

Szkwarek said she has spent the past two years fearing Farley would be released “and come back and finish it.”

“I can sleep better just knowing he is going to be in a locked place,” she said.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

Biidaajimowin | News from the Centre

Wednesdays

Sent weekly from the heart of Turtle Island, an exploration of Indigenous voices, perspectives and experiences.

Sign up for Biidaajimowin | News from the Centre

Sign Up

I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Farley visited the Crisis Response Centre or a hospital emergency room five times in the two days preceding the attacks. He was discharged after one hospital visit with a recommendation to see a counsellor. The night before the attacks, Farley was involuntarily admitted to the crisis centre, but walked out the next morning, with no one attempting to stop him.

Farley agreed to the high-risk designation in a “quid pro quo” agreement with prosecutors to recommend he be found not criminally responsible for the attacks, defence lawyer Evan Roitenberg said outside court.

“In these circumstances, I think it affords a level of comfort to our community,” Roitenberg said.

“Our community, however, has to realize we are in a crisis across the country when it comes to mental health,” he said. “While everybody seems to recognize it when they know somebody who is struggling with mental health, they are not always willing to recognize it when it comes to someone who is before the criminal court.”

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca

Dean Pritchard
Courts reporter

Dean Pritchard is courts reporter for the Free Press. He has covered the justice system since 1999, working for the Brandon Sun and Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 2019. Read more about Dean.

Every piece of reporting Dean produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.