Court lifts ‘high-risk’ label for Winnipeg man who killed parents, stabbed colleague

WINNIPEG – A Winnipeg man found to be mentally ill when he stabbed his parents to death and then repeatedly knifed a co-worker is no longer legally deemed a high risk for further violence.

A judge decided Tuesday that Trevor Farley has taken his medication, followed his treatment and does not pose a threat to the extent that the high-risk designation remains necessary.

“Farley’s willingness to follow treatment has been that of a model patient,” Justice Kenneth Champagne told a hearing in Court of King’s Bench.

Farley is in the highly restricted area of Selkirk Mental Health Centre and to date has been given supervised passes on the facility grounds and in community. 

Champagne ruled Farley remains a threat to public safety and will remain detained at the centre, but with the chance of additional privileges introduced in the future.

Farley’s lawyer, Carley Mahoney, said they are going to ask for unsupervised passes at a review board hearing in about six weeks.

“This does not mean that he’s going to walk out of Selkirk Mental Health Centre tomorrow and increase public safety concerns,” Mahoney later told reporters.

“It’s a step forward. It allows him to cascade and make progress. It’s going to be baby steps for Mr. Farley as it is for all not criminally responsible accused persons.”

Farley is the first and only person in Manitoba who has been labelled a high-risk accused since the designation was introduced in 2014 by the federal government. It mandates extra security for those who are in care facilities for treatment based on the potential for further violence and the horrific nature of the crime.

Champagne was found not criminally responsible in 2023 in the slaying of his 73-year-old parents, Judy Swain and Stuart Farley, and the attack on Candyce Szkwarek, a nursing supervisor at Seven Oaks General Hospital, where Farley worked as a nurse.

Farley had no prior criminal record and no history with drugs or alcohol. It was his first acute psychotic episode.

At trial, court heard Farley was experiencing psychotic symptoms and believed higher powers were telling him his relatives and Szkwarek were “contaminated by evil.”

The attacks happened over three hours at three different locations on Oct. 27, 2021. 

Stuart Farley was stabbed 30 times in his west-end home in Winnipeg. Then Judy Swain was stabbed and hit with a hammer in her home at Hanover, south of Winnipeg.

Farley then went to the hospital and began repeatedly stabbing Szkwarek in front of witnesses before a doctor intervened to save her.

Champagne said Farley’s actions have been severe and life-altering.

Szkwarek, 70, was unable to attend Tuesday’s hearing because she was recovering from her 13th surgery linked to the injuries she suffered from the attack. She has not returned to work.

Jackie Motoch, Szkwarek’s daughter, said the family is disappointed and worries what will happen if Farley decides not to take his medication or seek treatment for his bipolar disorder.

“This was the only thing that was preventing (Szkwarek) from living in fear of him coming back to hurt her again,” Motoch told reporters.

“It’s something that permeates every thought that she has every day.

“It has not really lessened in the five years since the attack.” 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 16, 2026.