Re Turker Armaghan Turkay, 2026 CanLII 45672

Re: Turker Armaghan Turkay

ORB File No: 0410

Hearing held on: Wednesday, April 15, 2026

Place of hearing: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

Pursuant to: Section 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code

Before:

Alternate Chairperson: Mr. J. Weinstein

Members: Dr. P. Prendergast

Dr. G. Nexhipi

Ms. A. Israel

Mr. J. Cyr

Parties Appearing:

Accused: Turker Armaghan Turkay

Counsel: Ms. C. Whillier

The person in charge of hospital: Counsel: Mr. K. Dow

Attorney General of Ontario: Counsel: Mr. D. Brandes

REASONS FOR DISPOSITION

(Dated May 11, 2026)

Introduction

1. On January 10, 1977, Mr. Turker Turkay was found not guilty by reason of insanity on a charge of attempted murder, contrary to the Criminal Code of Canada (“Criminal Code”).

2. Mr. Turkay is subject to a Disposition of the Ontario Review Board (the “Board”) dated May 27, 2025, which ordered that he be detained at the Forensic Service of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto ("CAMH").

3. On April 15, 2026, the Board convened a hearing at CAMH to conduct the review of the current Disposition.

4. Mr. Turkay was represented by his counsel, Ms. Whillier, who advised that her client did not wish to attend this hearing and that she had instructions to proceed in his absence. An order was made, pursuant to s. 672.5(10)(a), allowing Mr. Turkay to be absent from this hearing.

5. A Hospital Report, dated March 31, 2026 (the "Hospital Report"), was entered as Exhibit 1.

6. The issues at this hearing were whether Mr. Turkay is a significant threat to the safety of the public, as defined in s. 672.5401 of the Criminal Code, and, if so, the necessary and appropriate Disposition must be determined, bearing in mind the factors enunciated in s. 672.54 of the Criminal Code.

7. For the reasons set out below and based on the expert evidence and opinions before us, the Board concluded that Mr. Turkay continues to pose a significant threat to the safety of the public. The Board ordered that the necessary and appropriate Disposition in the circumstances is a Conditional Discharge. Terms in this Disposition include that he reside at a specified address and that he continue to report to the person in charge not less than once per month.

Current Psychiatric Diagnoses

8. Schizophrenia, multiple episodes, currently in partial remission;

Substance Use Disorder, in sustained remission;

Exhibitionistic Disorder.

Index Offence

9. The circumstances giving rise to the Index Offence are taken from last year’s Reasons for Disposition, as follows:

“On Wednesday, July 7, 1976, at approximately 12:15 p.m., Mr. Turkay returned to his home. This was also the residence of the victim, Ms. J., a business associate of Mr. Turkay's father. Mr. Turkay lived in a room in the basement of the house. Upon returning home, Mr. Turkay went to bed but was unable to sleep. He knocked on the ceiling to have the television turned down. When the television was not turned down, Mr. Turkay walked upstairs and approached Ms. J., who refused to turn down the volume. Mr. Turkay picked up a metal bar and beat Ms. J. several times on the head, legs, arms, and shoulders, causing extremely serious injuries to her. He then fled the house. He was arrested by police four days later."

Background Information

10. Mr. Turkay’s background is outlined in the Hospital Report, and is accurately summarized in last year’s Reasons:

“Mr. Turkay was born in Finland, the eldest in a sibline of three. He immigrated to Canada with his parents when he was seven. His parents separated when he was a teenager. He lived for less than a year with his mother. He then moved to his father’s home.

After completing grade nine, he left school and worked at short term unskilled jobs before relying on social assistance. He is currently supported through funding from the Ontario Disability Support Program (“ODSP”).

Mr. Turkay started using alcohol and street drugs in adolescence, including LSD, speed, hash, and ecstasy. His contact with police generally resulted from his drinking.

Prior to the index offence he had one incident in 1973 involving breaking a window for which he received a suspended sentence and probation.

He was admitted to the Clarke Institute at age 17. He was an inpatient at the Clarke in the spring of 1974 and was readmitted for a month later in that year.

Following the NGRI finding, Mr. Turkay was admitted to Mental Health Centre, Penetanguishene (now Waypoint). Over the following years, there were numerous incidents of medication noncompliance with associated decompensation in his mental state.

In late 1998, Mr. Turkay began treatment with Clozapine. The treatment team noted a significant improvement. He was not a management problem, and no aggressive behaviours were noted.

In 2002, Mr. Turkay was transferred to the Medium Secure unit of CAMH and then to the Open Rehabilitation Unit, a Minimum Secure unit in 2003.

In October 2004, Mr. Turkay was discharged to a “Homes for Special Care” residence in Holland Landing, which provided 24-hour care, including medication administration. But for one brief readmission to hospital resulting from medication noncompliance, Mr. Turkay remained at this residence until May 2007. He then transferred to a Homes for Special Care residence in Etobicoke, so that he could be closer to family. He resided in Etobicoke until he was readmitted to hospital in March 2012 after he reportedly threatened residents and staff members at the group home. The Etobicoke residence refused to accept him back; however, he was accepted back at the residence in Holland Landing where he remained until August 2017.

In August 2017, Mr. Turkay was arrested and charged with indecent act, the allegations being that he exposed his genitals and was masturbating in public. There were reportedly numerous complaints by local businesses regarding Mr. Turkay’s similar behaviours. Mr. Turkay subsequently was admitted to CAMH where he remained until his discharge to John Gibson House, a high support, 24 hour supervised residence, in August 2018.

Mr. Turkay was referred to the Sexual Behaviours Clinic at CAMH. The assessment concluded that he demonstrated a pattern of sufficiently severe and repetitive behaviour to qualify him for a diagnosis of Exhibitionistic Disorder. Mr. Turkay declined recommended programming to address this disorder.

Mr. Turkay continued to accept Clozapine. Notwithstanding this compliance, his positive psychotic symptoms continued with significant delusions, disorganization, and auditory hallucinations. He remained incapable of consenting to antipsychotic medications and his mother continued to act as his substitute decision maker (“SDM”) to consent for the Clozapine. Mr. Turkay accepted treatment with escitalopram to reduce sexual impulsivity.

Mr. Turkay was readmitted to CAMH for two months following noncompliance with medication. Residence staff noted a substantial deterioration in his mental status. He became increasingly agitated and hostile, culminating in threats towards staff and other residents. While in hospital, Mr. Turkay made efforts to avoid compliance on several occasions and required a high degree of vigilance by staff and direct supervision of medication administration. Mr. Turkay returned to Gibson House. While generally compliant and cooperative with staff at the residence, he continued to attempt to avoid compliance with his Clozapine.

In October 2019, Mr. Turkay moved to St. Anne’s Place, a supervised residence for seniors where his meals are supplied, and his medication is administered and supervised. He resides there in a semi-independent apartment operated by the community mental health agency LOFT with on-site mental health supports available as required.

Once again, he was readmitted to CAMH in May 2022 because of noncompliance with his Clozapine. Both residence staff and the forensic outpatient (“FOP”) team noted a significant deterioration in his mental state. Police were required to apprehend and return him to CAMH. His Clozapine was restarted and titrated to his appropriate dosage. Once he returned to baseline, he was discharged back to St. Anne’s in August 2022.

Mr. Turkay had two subsequent admissions, both as a result of noncompliance with treatment. In February 2023, he spat out or refused his Clozapine on multiple days, again resulting in mental decompensation. He was brought back to hospital and readmitted. His mental state quickly stabilized following reinstatement of Clozapine, and he was discharged back to St. Anne’s residence on February 27, 2023.

Mr. Turkay was re-admitted to CAMH again on May 20, 2023, following signs of decompensation in his mental state due to medication noncompliance. He had refused to take his Clozapine consistently. He would take his medication two days in a row and then refuse it on the third day. His mental state was stabilized after Clozapine treatment was re-established and he was discharged on May 25, 2023.”

Course Since Last Disposition

11. Mr. Turkay’s course since his last Disposition is set out in detail in the Hospital Report. The following extracted paragraphs are relevant to this hearing:

“Mr. Turkay remained on a detention order and continued to reside at St. Anne’s Place, a semi-independent apartment operated by the community mental health agency where he has been living since 1st October 2019 for the entirety of the above reporting period. He received on site mental health support as well as administration and supervision of his medication regimen. There were no significant mental health decompensation that resulted in return to hospital for reassessment or admission. He was followed by his FOPS team comprising of his TCM and his MRP/author. Reporting frequency was once monthly, both in person and via video conference.”

Position of the Parties

12. Counsel for the hospital and for the Attorney General recommended a Conditional Discharge Disposition, with the following requirements: to reside at a specified address; to report to the treatment team not less than once per month; when living in the community, to report to the person in charge not less than once per month; to refrain from possessing weapons; and to abstain absolutely from the non-medical use of alcohol and drugs and any other intoxicant. Paragraph 4(b) of the current Disposition, requiring him to submit samples of his urine or breath, can be deleted.

13. Counsel for Mr. Turkay advised that her client was requesting an Absolute Discharge. However, should the Board find that Mr. Turkay continues to remain a significant threat to public safety, he was joining the hospital in their recommendation of a Conditional Discharge, upon their recommended terms.

Evidence at the Hearing

14. The Board had available to it the evidence and documents forming the Record, the Exhibits, and oral evidence from Dr. Ugwunze. Dr. Ugwunze testified as follows:

a) He is Mr. Turkay’s treating psychiatrist and has been since October 2022. He co-authored the Hospital Report and adopted its contents.

b) He meets with Mr. Turkay regularly, as does Mr. Turkay’s case manager.

c) Mr. Turkay had his best year, adhering to his medication regimen. There have been no significant issues reported since the last reporting period.

d) Since 2019, Mr. Turkay has resided at St. Anne’s Place, a 24/7 supervised secure residence. Staff administer all medication, assist with Mr. Turkay’s ADLs, and communicate regularly with the forensic team.

e) Mr. Turkay is not capable to consent to treatment, and his elderly mother is his Substitute Decision Maker (“SDM”). There have been no refusals by Mr. Turkay of his medications this year. Historically, he has refused, and become non-adherent to, his medication, which has led to a rapid decompensation and hospital readmission.

f) As for this upcoming reporting period, he does not feel Mr. Turkay would be adherent to his medication but for the consent of his SDM, staff supervision at St. Anne’s Place, and the jurisdiction of the Board.

g) Mr. Turkay remains a significant threat to the safety of the public for the following reasons: the index offences were extremely serious and occurred during severe decompensation; when unwell, Mr. Turkay becomes combative, physically threatening and disinhibited; Mr. Turkay has no insight into his mental illness and his need to be adherent to his medication regimen; and Mr. Turkay is very sensitive to missing doses of his clozapine and deteriorates quite quickly when he does.

h) Mr. Turkay’s last readmission to hospital was in May 2023, when he refused his medication. He presented as delusional, thought disordered, and clearly decompensated.

i) The team is recommending a Conditional Discharge as the following protective factors are in place; Mr. Turkay resides in a locked secure residence; staff at St. Anne’s know him well; his medication adherence is supervised by staff; and St. Anne’s would report to the Forensic Outpatient Team if they were to see any early warning signs of decompensation. Without these structures in place, Mr. Turkay’s risk would be unmanageable.

j) He believes that the Mental Health Act (MHA) can be employed to return Mr. Turkay to hospital.

k) Mr. Turkay is incapable to consent to treatment with antipsychotic medication, and he would not understand the consequences of a breach of a term of his Disposition requiring him to take medication. Therefore, a condition that he consent to treatment, pursuant to section 672.55(1) of the Criminal Code, is not appropriate.

l) Mr. Turkay has recently exhibited some mobility issues and has had some recent falls. A neurologist recommended a walker, which Mr. Turkay is refusing to use.

m) Mr. Turkay has never participated in any programming, because of his lack of insight.

15. In response to questions from counsel for the Attorney General, Dr. Ugwunze testified:

a) St. Anne’s Place is the prime protective factor keeping Mr. Turkay stable and the public safe.

b) Mr. Turkay currently does not have a non-forensic team in place, which would be essential for public safety if he was not under the Board’s jurisdiction. Should Mr. Turkay be granted an Absolute Discharge, the hospital could not ensure that he would remain adherent to his medication. Mr. Turkay’s stability is entirely dependent on external structures, such as his residence and the forensic oversight provided by his current Disposition.

c) St. Anne’s Place does have a family physician on site; however, a family physician cannot replace the oversight that is currently provided by a forensic team and that is needed to protect public safety. Mr. Turkay has no professional supports outside of the current forensic system.

d) With respect to the incident in May 2023, when Mr. Turkay refused his clozapine, there would have been no one for St. Anne’s to contact, if he had begun to decompensate, without a Disposition of the Board.

e) If the Board orders a Conditional Discharge, and if Mr. Turkay continues on his positive trajectory, the treatment team will investigate finding a non-forensic team, so they could eventually recommend an Absolute Discharge.

16. In response to questions from the panel, Dr. Ugwunze testified:

a) If Mr. Turkay refused his clozapine, but had not yet fully deteriorated, he felt that he still could use the MHA.

b) He agreed that the following paragraph from last year’s Reasons for Disposition is still true today:

“As has been the case for many years, Mr. Turkay expresses significant deficits in his insight across all relevant domains. He has no insight into his diagnosis of Schizophrenia or the need for treatment and supervision. He does not believe he has received any benefits from taking medication but rather thinks that his antipsychotic medication has led to physical health issues. He has stated that if it were up to him, he would stop taking his medication. He has extremely underdeveloped insight into his past offending behaviour or the risk that he continues to pose.”

c) The risk of harm that he is describing is real and not speculative that Mr. Turkay would commit a serious, criminal act.

d) The reasons set out on page 40 of the Hospital Report remain true today and accurately summarize why Mr. Turkay remains a significant threat to the safety of the public.

17. No other evidence was called.

Analysis and Conclusions

18. Having heard and considered the entirety of the evidence as well as the submissions from the parties, the Board finds that Mr. Turkay continues to pose a significant threat to the safety of the public.

19. In Winko, the Supreme Court outlined that, in coming to the conclusion on the issue of significant risk, a Review Board should closely examine a range of evidence, including: the circumstances of the original offence; the past and expected course of the accused’s treatment; the present state of the NCR accused’s medical condition; the NCR accused’s own plans for the future; the support existing for the NCR accused in the community; and most importantly, the recommendations provided by experts who examined the NCR accused. In coming to our conclusion in this matter, the Board relies on the uncontroverted expert evidence of Dr. Ugwunze, in addition to the documentary evidence before us.

20. Mr. Turkay has poor insight into his illness, his ongoing psychotic symptoms and his treatment needs. He continues to demonstrate poor insight into the need for supervision, treatment with antipsychotic medication, and the benefits of taking medication.

21. The doctor’s uncontroverted evidence is that the risk he is describing is a real risk of Mr. Turkay committing a serious, criminal act.

22. In particular, the Board relies on the following extracted paragraphs set out in the Hospital Report:

“Overall based on the SAPROF and HCR-20 V3 scoring, Mr. Turkay’s risk for violent recidivism, serious physical harm and its imminence is judged to be in the low whilst residing in a supervised setting on a detention order disposition. This risk would remain the same if he were granted a Conditional Discharge with no changes to his residence or treatment. The risk would increase to moderate to high in the event that he be granted an absolute discharge at this point.

Clinical Risk Factors/Re-offence Scenario

Criminogenic risk factors include:

ii) Psychotic disorder (schizophrenia) with residual symptoms;

iii) Exhibitionistic disorder

iv) Substance abuse disorder, in full sustained remission;

v) Unspecified Personality Disorder;

vi) Poor insight into his psychiatric illness;

vii) Limited social/community supports.

Clinical or dynamic risk factors which may serve as proximal indicators for violent recidivism include an exacerbation of active symptoms of his schizophrenia, non-compliance with clozapine, use of alcohol or drugs, interpersonal conflict with others, unstructured daytime routine and exacerbation of underlying personality traits.

If Mr. Turkay were to reoffend, this will likely occur in the context of medication noncompliance leading to relapse of his schizophrenia manifesting as worsening psychotic symptoms, mainly delusions. This would exacerbate were he to misuse substances leading to increased risk of violent recidivism similar to his index offence. Mr. Turkay last engaged in violent behaviours similar to those at the time of the index offence in 2019 when he threatened to harm staff and other residents at his former placement. He did however present as restless, agitated and combative when his mental state decompensated in February 2023 due to medication non-compliance. The team required the assistance of TPS (Toronto Police Service) to return him to hospital for an assessment culminating in readmission.”

23. The Board notes that the last recorded incident of sexually inappropriate behaviour by Mr. Turkay was in 2017, as set out on pages 20 and 21 of the Hospital Report.

24. The Board notes that Mr. Turkay did experience a decompensation in his mental stability in May 2023, when he stopped his clozapine. As Mr. Turkay ages, and mobility issues become more apparent, he may begin a path to an Absolute Discharge, if he continues to adhere to medication and if CAMH is able to find a non-forensic team to take over his management.

25. In consideration of all the evidence, submissions of the parties and criteria set forth in s. 672.54, the paramount consideration being the safety of the public, in addition to the mental condition of Mr. Turkay, his reintegration into society and his other needs, the necessary and appropriate Disposition is a Conditional Discharge upon the terms set out in our formal Disposition.

DATED this 11^th^ day of May, 2026, at the City of Toronto, in the Region of Toronto.

Mr. J. Weinstein

Alternate Chairperson

__________________

Office of the Registrar

Ontario Review Board