Man accused of killing parents, stabbing co-worker left crisis centre despite order to stay: court docs

A man charged with killing his elderly parents and then stabbing his supervisor at a Winnipeg hospital last year was ordered to be involuntarily assessed by a psychiatrist the morning of the attacks — but he walked out of the facility hours later, court documents allege.

Trevor Robert Farley, 38, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of his mother, Judy Swain, and second-degree murder in the death of his father, Stuart Farley. Both were 73 years old.

Trevor Farley is also charged with attempted murder in connection with a stabbing at Seven Oaks Hospital in Winnipeg that happened on the same day his parents were killed.

Recently unsealed court documents — written by investigators to get search warrants — contain details about what police believed happened in the hours before the Oct. 27, 2021, attacks. None of the allegations have been tested in court.

According to documents written by RCMP and Winnipeg police before getting warrants to search Farley's car and home last year, Farley sought help for mental health issues at the Mental Health Crisis Response Centre on Winnipeg's Bannatyne Avenue.

He went to the crisis centre on Oct. 26, 2021, and spent the night, according to the court documents.

Shortly before 9 a.m. on Oct. 27, Farley was reassessed, and a decision was made to admit him to be involuntarily assessed by a physician. What's referred to as a "Form 4" was completed, a corporal with the RCMP major crimes unit wrote in his application to search Farley's car.

A Form 4 allows an individual to be taken to a psychiatric facility for an assessment by a psychiatrist when they are either unwilling or unable to consent to a voluntary assessment.

Shared Health says individuals can be kept involuntarily at the Crisis Response Centre if their mental health issues are deemed to be severe by a physician.

Patients who meet that criteria are then sent to an in-patient psychiatric ward, but if a bed is not available they stay at the Crisis Response Centre, and will almost always stay in an assessment room until a bed becomes available.

"If staff believe the person is at high risk to leave the CRC and there is a likelihood of them harming themselves or others, they are typically moved to a locked secure room under constant observation, where ongoing staff support is provided," a Shared Health spokesperson said in an email.

"The CRC is not a locked facility, so it is possible for individuals to leave unless in a locked secure room."

The provincial health authority said if someone under involuntary status leaves the facility, police are notified to find the person and transport them to the emergency department.

In the search warrant documents, the RCMP officer noted that he read the application for the involuntary assessment. The doctor who filled out the form wrote Farley had a disorganized thought process, believed he was a prophet, had delusions and auditory hallucinations, and had intense suicidal thoughts.