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Dwayne Roger Roy, 57, died July 30th, 2007 after a fight in the psychiatric ward of the Royal Alexandra Hospital.

Roy was Edmonton's eighteenth homicide victim of the year.

Jean Francois Sheehy, 34, was charged with second-degree murder and possession of a weapon for the purpose of committing an offence.

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Emergency operators working the 911 dispatch centre got an unusual call just before 4:00 a.m. on July 30th, 2007 reporting that a man was found near death in a hospital and it wasn't because he had a life-threatening medical condition.

Homicide detectives worked the scene of the city's latest murder inside the normally controlled environment of the Royal Alexandra Hospital's sixth-floor psychiatric ward.

Early details indicated an altercation took place between two persons sharing a room that resulted in a 57-year-old man being killed.

The man died shortly after police arrived and a 34-year-old man was taken into police custody.

A police paddywagon was seen parked in front of the hospital. It later drove off carrying their suspect inside.

Staff had heard what was described as a "commotion" in a hallway, prompting them to alert a security guard who was on the ward watching a patient (but not one of the two men involved in the incident).

Five additional guards from other parts of the hospital quickly arrived. Both men were taken to the emergency room where the older man was pronounced dead.

The 57-year-old was a doctor-certified patient who was required to be in the hospital's facility. The other man admitted himself voluntarily two weeks prior to the incident and was expected to be released some time later in the week.

Capital Health officials said neither man had exhibited any signs of violence to staff and both were deemed to be low-security risks. No hospital staff were injured in the incident.

The sixth floor of the hospital remained locked down for most of the day as forensic officers treated the 30-bed treatment unit to a fine-toothed combover. About twenty other patients were on the floor at the time of the murder.

A hospital official confirmed it was the first murder in the history of the Royal Alex. The last homicide in a Capital Health-run facility was at the Alberta Hospital in 1994.

Later in the day police identified the victim as 57-year-old Dwayne Roger Roy, a one-time resident of Edmonton's inner city.

An autopsy later determined he died from blunt and sharp force trauma to the head and neck. Charges were said to be pending against the 34-year-old taken from the scene.

A news conference was held to address concerns raised by the event.

Dr. P.J. White, regional clinical program director for Capital Health's regional mental health program, addressed the media in sombre tones.

"This is a tough situation. We've clearly had a tragedy on one of our units this morning.

"One of our patients obviously was killed. And this to us is very serious. It's something we look at very seriously and it's a tragedy. A tragedy not just for the patient but the patient's family.

"We need to find out the details of how this happened, what led to it, what contributed to it and how we intervened and learn from this. If it there is an issue with a weapon then that will be have to looked into with great detail and with great seriousness as well.

"When you do multiple assessments and there is no evidence, ultimately one cannnot absolutely totally predict when something's going to happen. If we could do that it would be a miracle.

"And clearly, ultimately, if there is there is a thought in one's head and conceals it very very secretively – we connot predict that, we cannot predict people's minds. The indicators suggest [the man in custody] was relatively stable," White said.

Nancy Fraser, senior operating officer of the regional mental health program, echoed his remarks.

"The unfortunate pieces Dr. White has already alluded to is that the human mind is something none of us can fully understand," she said.

Fraser said each patient appeared to be asleep when checked at 3:00 a.m. and at 3:30 a.m., and that a full complement of night-shift staff – two registered nurses and two licensed practical nurses – were working at the time.

She said it was a “traumatic” morning for staff and patients on the ward and counsellors were brought in.

“People are upset,” Fraser said.

Kenny Hykawky, a third-floor patient, told the Edmonton Sun he was glad police were able to effect a swift arrest.

“I'd be more concerned if the person didn't get caught,” Hykawky said.

The Sun also spoke to a former patient who called the facility's security "pretty lax."

"It's a dangerous place to stay, depending on who's in your room – there's no question about it," said Brian, who didn't offer his last name. "I watched some people pretty closely."

"After midnight there's only one person at the door and that just doesn't make sense," he said.

"I'm surprised [violence] doesn't happen more – well it does happen more, but people don't die. I've seen a lot of people get hurt, patients beating on patients."

Brian said it wouldn't be difficult to smuggle in a weapon.

"They have knives, forks, spoons there – all the utensils. There's always knives for making toast," he said.

"If you bring in a bag, they'll check it, but that's about it."

Veteran standby interviewee and University of Alberta criminologist Bill Pitt was asked for his take on the incident. He said homicides on psychiatric wards are "extremely rare."

"They're more likely to do harm to themselves," Pitt said.

Global Edmonton interviewed Marlen Meilleur who was being treated on the same floor where Roy died. She tried to put her fears into perspective.

"Yeah, that's kinda close I would say. But it's no worse than drive-bys or like it's becoming very violent," she said.

When speaking with CBC Edmonton, Meilleur said the mood was very quiet on the sixth floor and that everything had been sealed off.

CTV Edmonton talked to a woman who also had been in the Royal Alex psychiatric unit. Joanna Lajczak said she heard of claims made by current patients and spoke of the conditions inside the ward.

"I heard that he wasn't taking his meds. He went off his meds and he should have been taking his meds. It's too small. There's not enough doctors and there's too many patients."

Bev Dick, vice-president of the United Nurses of Alberta, did not disagree with Lajczak's assessment.

"There is a need for increased security. It's tragic. The alarm bells have been ringing for a long time – the nurses have been ringing the alarm bells and they haven't been listened to.

"It's fallen on deaf ears and and tragically we're here today because somebody has died as a result.

"Sadly, over the years, mental health has kind of fallen through the cracks. It's not as sexy as a heart institute," Dick told CBC Edmonton.

The United Nurses of Alberta released a statement regarding the incident and related staffing concerns on their web site.

In the statement a special constable was asked to be placed in all psychiatric wards.

Tom Shand, executive director of the Canadian Mental Health Association, told the Edmonton Journal security at the hospital was adequate.

"I think it's a credit to the level of security that they don't have more incidents like this, period," Shand said. "It's a volatile environment, and I think they handle security pretty well."

Both a provincial fatality inquiry and an internal Capital Health investigation are set to look into Roy's death. A public inquiry is required whenever a certified mental health patient dies in care.

On July 31st, 2007 police charged Jean Francois Sheehy, 34, with second-degree murder and possession of a weapon for the purpose of committing an offence.

Sheehy, originally from Quebec, appeared in court the day he was charged and was ordered to undergo a 30-day psychiatric assessment at the Alberta Hospital.

University of Alberta criminologist Sanjeev Anand told the Journal that if found not criminally responsible for his actions, Sheehy would be the subject of a hearing to determine the risk he may pose to society. Sheehy would not likely be immediately released from custody, he added.

Police also revealed a knife was recovered at the scene of Roy's murder.

"The investigators are still trying to determine where the knife came from but it was determined to be something along the lines of a metal kitchen knife that was used in this attack," explained a police spokesman.

An autopsy showed that Roy died from blunt and sharp force trauma to the head and neck.

Jean Sheehy was committed by psychiatrists to the Royal Alex on June 28th. The man had stopped taking medication for an undisclosed serious mental illness. He was set to be released from treatment on July 28th – two days before Roy died – but was convinced by his admitting psychiatrist to stay on.

The ward Sheehy occupied allowed him to leave and re-enter without a search of his person. Capital Health spokesman Steve Buick told CTV Edmonton of the concerns Sheehy's freedom of movement may now have posed.

"Did we have him at the right level of security? Obviously it appears we could have missed things in the assessments over time and we will be going through that very carefully."

It also came to light Sheehy was involved in a punch-up with another patient on the same ward on July 17th, almost two weeks before Roy's murder.

"The chart shows a minor incident where this patient apparently punched another patient on the unit. It wasn't a serious assault – it didn't cause a lot of harm."

Buick said Sheehy was isolated and monitored until it was thought he had been stabilised.

The spokesman downplayed the incident for Global Edmonton as well. The station set their interview of the man against reaction from UNA vice-president Bev Dick.

Buick anticipated the nurse's representative raising concerns of violence when he characterised the earlier attack.

"It was not interpreted as a warning and there was no warning of the incident the other day that was quote iqnored or anything of the kind.

"We've found that the number of incidents of significant assaults by patients against staff at the Alex has actually gone down a bit over the past three years."

"There's no upward trend in serious assaults against staff by mental health patients."

Bev Dick responded.

"If they're saying that the number of incidents is indeed down, that's probably a good thing. However, we keep hearing from our members."

Dick was also concerned about the number of violent patients being admitted to psychiatric wards. She spoke of serious reports her members are filing.

"Those have the ability to make their way to the CEO of the regional health authority and indeed the board of the regional health authority, and it is our intention to take them that far."

The Capital Health spokesman addressed issues their review would face, particularly how Sheehy was evaluated.

"Was that assessment exactly right or should that assessment been done differently in this specific case, or should we work with our clinicians to try to adjust the tolerances for those risk assessments?"

It was reported there would be no immediate changes to security levels in the wake of the homicide. Dick expressed her member's fears.

"There's patients there that perhaps are being innappropriately placed on that unit, that should not be allowed to be on that unit, that should be in a more secure setting."

The Capital Health review was expected to take up to two months. A provincial inquiry had yet to be convened.

Little is known of 57-year-old Dwayne Roger Roy.

He was a former resident of Edmonton's inner city, an area populated by those who often fail at fitting into society.

Those not up to the challenge often become patients of the Royal Alex, the downtown's closest hospital. And it was only those at the hospital who spoke for the “little guy” as staff fondly referred to him.

Doug Knight, president of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, spoke for the members who cared after Roy.

“The deceased was a sort of a pet of the staff – a little guy that everybody liked,” he said.

"He was one of the favourites in the ward. Everyone liked him."

The Journal tracked down a man who in 2003 lived next door to Roy when they both were residing at Citrus Court, a Canadian Mental Health Association apartment building for people on Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH) support.

Terry, who asked not to have his last name published, said his former neighbour was a quiet guy with a history of mental health problems.

"He was a nice guy, it's just that he was a loner and very scared of people. He wouldn't make friends," said 58-year-old Terry.

"He would be paranoid that people would be coming into his apartment and take things, which had never happened," he said. "He stayed to himself. He didn't bother the neighbours. It's just that he had a battle within himself."

"I'm going to miss Dwayne, because he was a nice, innocent man who never tried to hurt anybody," Terry said. "I feel so sorry that life treated him so bad."

On June 27th, 2008 Court of Queen's Bench Justice Eric Macklin ruled that Jean Francois Sheehy was suffering from a severe mental illness when he stabbed Dwayne Roger Roy with a four-inch kitchen knife, and crushed his skull with his heel.

Roy died from blunt force trauma and multiple stab wounds to the head and neck, one of which severed his carotid artery.

Forensic psychiatrists Dr. Vijay Singh and Dr. Curtis Woods testified that Sheehy was suffering from acute psychosis when he attacked Roy, who was asleep at the time.

"Sheehy contended that he was followed and monitored and that the ultimate plan was to bring about his demise because of his knowledge of confidential and damning information, namely the government's aspiration to control the population via means of covert genetic transformation of various consumer products," according to Dr. Woods.

Sheehy was also convinced that CSIS, the FBI and the RCMP were planning to kill him because he had a superior intellect and a unique understanding of DNA replication.

Sheehy thought cellular phones and satellites were being used to alter his medications, and that many of the people living and working on the psychiatric unit at the Royal Alexandra Hospital were participating in the conspiracy, including his treating psychiatrist and Dwayne Roy – the "kingpin."

On June 28th, 2007 Sheehy had been committed to the hospital after making bizarre statements and acting unsafely at work. Doctors later determined he was suffering from overwhelming persecutory delusions and that he was entirely disconnected from reality.

However, Sheehy's intellect allowed him to keep many of these symptoms hidden, according to Dr. Singh. Shortly before the attack he was allowed out on a day pass.

While out of hospital, Sheehy began hearing voices telling him that if he didn't kill Roy, Roy would kill him. He believed he had to kill Roy in self-defence as part of a "pre-emptive strike."

By the time he returned to the Royal Alex on July 29th, he was fearful for his life. Tragically, Sheehy and Roy ended up together and were roommates with two other men.

According to agreed facts, between 3:30 and 3:40 a.m. on July 30th, shortly after a nurse had walked by their room on her rounds, Sheehy attacked Roy in his bed with a metal kitchen knife.

Roy fled into a hallway, leaving behind a seven-metre blood trail. He collapsed onto the floor, his head resting on the small curb where the floor meets the wall.

A hospital security guard saw Sheehy with both hands around Roy's neck, choking him. The guard then saw Sheehy release Roy and stand up and stamp his heel down on the man's eye, crushing his skull.

"It wasn't a matter of right or wrong, but life and death. I had to act, I had to defend myself. I knew I had fallen into their trap and I had to find my way out," Sheehy later told Dr. Singh.

"These cases are always tragic," Justice Macklin said. "While Mr. Sheehy undoubtedly committed the alleged act, he was incapable of appreciating that his acts were morally wrong."

Macklin didn't send Sheehy to prison, finding him not criminally responsible for Roy's second-degree murder. Instead, his case will be considered within 45 days by Alberta's Mental Health Review Board who will consider and determine an appropriate course of treatment.

Prior to developing mental illness, the Quebec native was working on his master's degree in physics and mechanical engineering. He first fell victim to mental illness in 2002 and had been committed to a psychiatric institution at least twice due to psychotic episodes. Medical records indicated he was being sent messages from TV and that he was aggressive and homicidal towards his mother.

Sheehy was working in research and development at a consulting firm in his home province before coming to Edmonton in March 2007. He had not been taking his anti-psychotic medication since the fall of 2006. Court heard that he is currently taking anti-psychotic medication, and his delusional symptoms have diminished.

After court adjourned, Sheehy's father shook hands with Roy's father and had a private chat with him to express his condolences.

deadmonton 2007 - dwayne roger roy