Re: Dwayne Robert Palmer
ORB File No: 6774
Hearing held on: Tuesday, January 20, 2026
Place of hearing: Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care
Pursuant to: Section 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code
Before:
Alternate Chairperson: Mr. R. Bigelow
Members: Dr. P.L. Darby
Dr. K. Patel
Ms. C. Murray
Ms. D. Smith
Parties Appearing:
Accused: Dwayne Robert Palmer
Counsel: Mr. M. Moon
The Person in Charge of Hospital: Counsel: Mr. J. Thomson (via Zoom)
Attorney General of Ontario: Counsel: Ms. S. Curry
REASONS FOR DISPOSITION
(Dated February 2, 2026)
Introduction:
On May 20, 2015, the Ontario Court of Appeal allowed an appeal by Dwayne Robert Palmer, and he was found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder (“NCR”) on two charges of second degree murder, contrary to the Criminal Code of Canada (“Criminal Code”). Mr. Palmer had originally been found guilty of the charges and sentenced to life with no eligibility of parole for 20 years. He was incarcerated at various institutions between 2008 and 2015. Since being found NCR, he has been subject to Detention Order Dispositions of the Ontario Review Board (“the Board” or “ORB”). He is currently subject to a Disposition of the ORB dated December 4, 2024, detaining him at the Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care – High Secure Provincial Forensic Programs, Penetanguishene (“Waypoint”), with the outer limit of privileges being hospital and grounds privileges, beyond the secure perimeter, escorted by staff.
On January 20, 2026, a panel of the Board convened to review Mr. Palmer’s disposition pursuant to s. 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code. Mr. Palmer was present for his hearing and was represented by counsel, Mr. M. Moon, throughout.
The Hospital Report dated October 28, 2025, updated December 17, 2025, and January 5, 2026, was marked as Exhibit 1. In addition to the documentary evidence, Mr. Palmer’s attending psychiatrist, Dr. W. Komer, gave viva voce evidence at the hearing.
The issues to be decided at the hearing were whether Mr. Palmer continues to represent a significant threat to the safety of the public as set out in section 672.5401 of the Criminal Code, and, if so, what is the necessary and appropriate disposition to manage that risk having regard to the criteria set out in s. 672.54 of the Criminal Code.
Position of the Parties:
At the outset of the hearing, the parties were asked for their initial without prejudice positions. On behalf of the hospital, Mr. Thomson took the position that Mr. Palmer remains a significant threat to the safety of the public, and that a Detention Order with the same terms and conditions as last year remained necessary and appropriate. Ms. Curry supported the position of the hospital on behalf of the Attorney General.
Mr. Moon did not contest the issue of significant threat and agreed with a Detention Order and did not request any changes to the current Disposition.
The parties maintained their joint position in closing submissions.
Findings:
- For the reasons set out below, the Board found that Mr. Palmer continues to pose a significant threat to public safety. The Board concluded that the necessary and appropriate Disposition, which is also the least onerous and least restrictive in the circumstances, is a continuation of the existing Detention Order without change.
Index Offences:
- The circumstances of the index offences are described in detail in the Hospital Report and are summarized, briefly, as follows:
At the time of the two homicides Mr. Palmer was 28 years old, lived with his mother, and had been unemployed for three years. At a plaza in Brampton, Mr. Palmer was observed approaching a 52-year-old female who was unknown to him. He took possession of her keys; she resisted, and he stabbed her four times in the back. The deceased female’s husband, who was unknown to Mr. Palmer, came to his wife’s aid and was stabbed seven times by Mr. Palmer. This stabbing resulted in the man’s death. Witnesses then saw Mr. Palmer stab himself in the throat several times. After the police arrived, Mr. Palmer slit his own throat. As he attempted to slit his throat a second time, a police officer tasered Mr. Palmer, thereby disabling him.
After stabbing the husband, Mr. Palmer was seen consuming Tylenol 3 tablets. Toxicology reports indicate that his blood contained only a therapeutic range of codeine. Mr. Palmer advised ambulance attendants that he had three beers for lunch. His blood alcohol concentration was 112 mgs/100 ml.
Background:
The Hospital Report details Mr. Palmer’s personal background and history and will not be repeated herein. Briefly, Mr. Palmer is a 45-year-old single man. He has no contact with any of this family members, except his mother with whom he has not been in contact with since 2024. He achieved a grade 8 education and completed some computer courses in an adult education program. Thereafter, he worked in a variety of temporary general labour positions.
Mr. Palmer began using cannabis at the age of 15 and it eventually became a daily habit. He also experimented with cocaine and ecstasy.
Mr. Palmer has a significant criminal record as a youth and as an adult. Convictions as an adult prior to the index offences include assault, driving while ability impaired, uttering threats, assault a police officer (x2), assault causing bodily harm, and failure to comply. As a youth, Mr. Palmer has weapons-related charges and a robbery conviction involving the use of a knife. He also has a charge of assault with a weapon stemming from an incident at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton on November 21, 2024.
Details of the onset of Mr. Palmer’s mental illness and first contact with mental health services are vague and uncorroborated by clinical records. Mr. Palmer recalls seeing a psychiatrist in his adolescence and being diagnosed with schizophrenia. He recalls being prescribed medications for a few months, which he took for a few months.
Following the index offences Mr. Palmer was found unfit to stand trial. He was described as mute, disorganized, requiring seclusion, and smearing feces on the walls. In 2010, he was unmanageable in jail and required a padded seclusion cell. On July 29, 2015, Mr. Palmer was admitted to Waypoint following an NCR finding.
On March 7, 2019, Mr. Palmer was transferred to St. Joseph’s Health Care Hamilton (“St. Joseph’s”). In September 2024, Mr. Palmer was described as stable, compliant with medication, reclusive to his room. He denied perceptual disturbances. He used privileges appropriately including passes to his mother’s home in Brampton, to attend work, and to attend a gym. Mr. Palmer had been offered a bed at Emmaus Place and it was anticipated that he would be transferred there within months.
However, on November 19, 2024, Mr. Palmer engaged in an attack on his attending psychiatrist, Dr. Alatishe, with a weapon that he had concealed on his person. Mr. Palmer continued his assault on the doctor by punching and kicking the doctor until the doctor was able to get to the door to escape. A Code White was immediately called, and additional staff and security arrived on the scene. Mr. Palmer was escorted to the seclusion room. As a result of this incident, Mr. Palmer has a pending charge of Assault with a Weapon. Mr. Palmer is schedule to appear in the Ontario Court of Justice on these charges on February 7, 2026.
Mr. Palmer was admitted to the Forensic Assessment Program (“FAP”) unit B at Waypoint from the Hamilton Wentworth Detention Centre on February 18, 2025. This is Mr. Palmer’s fifth admission to Waypoint.
Mr. Palmer’s psychiatric diagnoses are Schizophrenia, Antisocial Personality Disorder, and Substance Abuse, in remission in a controlled environment. He has not been assessed as being incapable of consenting to treatment.
Course Since Last Disposition
The Hospital Report details Mr. Palmer’s course since his last Disposition. In brief, upon admission to Waypoint on February 18, 2025, Mr. Palmer was placed in seclusion. Mr. Palmer has been unwilling to provide any explanation or offer his account of the incident of November 19, 2024, wherein he assaulted his psychiatrist at St. Joseph’s. He has been managed for the entirely of his stay at Waypoint with seclusion and a Crisis Prevention Plan (“CPP”). He does not appear motivated to progress through the de-restraint process.
Mr. Palmer remains dismissive of the clinical staff, often unresponsive to their attempts to get him to engage or telling them to “go away”. The Hospital Report notes that he glares, presents as paranoid, is easily startled when staff come to his room, and is hypervigilant. Mr. Palmer talks and mumbles to himself and, at times, he is observed to respond aggressively. In contrast, he is more amenable to interacting with Dr. Komer or psychiatrists involved in his seclusion reviews. Mr. Palmer’s cooperation with interview questions ends each time he is asked about past violence.
Mr. Palmer refuses medications. He wants to demonstrate that he is free from psychosis without medication.
Mr. Palmer’s lack of engagement and refusal to participate in mental status assessments make accurately gauging his risk of imminent violence difficult. Mr. Palmer’s seclusion is reviewed daily. In addition, his seclusion has been subjected to three 28-day reviews, conducted by two independent psychiatrists. On September 30, 2025, Mr. Palmer appeared paranoid and would not respond to the psychiatrist. On October 28, 2025, Mr. Palmer again would not engage with the psychiatrist. On November 27, 2025, Mr. Palmer answered a few questions. He continues to be offered daily seclusion relief.
On December 7, 2025, Mr. Palmer spent an hour on the internet researching hunting knives and knife-making kits. Throughout, he was responding to internal stimuli. On December 8, 2025, Mr. Palmer’s CPP was updated to include a prohibition from researching weapons on the unit computer. On December 16, 2025, Mr. Palmer searched the internet looking at books about knives.
Oral Evidence at the Hearing:
- Dr. W. Komer, Mr. Palmer’s most responsible psychiatrist, supplemented the documentary evidence with his viva voce evidence. He testified at the hearing as follows.
a. Dr. Komer agrees with the recommendations of the hospital, and the joint position, that there should be no change to the Detention Order.
b. Dr. Komer states that he is not proposing treatment with antipsychotic medications currently. Mr. Palmer does not want medication because he wants to prove that he can control his behaviours without medication. In the past, there have been psychiatrists who have questioned whether Mr. Palmer experiences psychotic symptoms and have questioned whether his behaviour improves on medication. Historically, there were periods of feces spreading and non-communication by Mr. Palmer. However, he has not exhibited these types of behaviours since his admission to Waypoint. Further, Mr. Palmer denies depression, delusions, or paranoia. The assault against his psychiatrist on November 19, 2024, was two days after he had received an injection of Clopixol. Dr. Komer stated that he did not know what symptoms he would be targeting with medications at this time.
c. In response to questions from Ms. Curry, Dr. Komer testified that the diagnosis of schizophrenia is unclear. Regarding Mr. Palmer’s insight into his schizophrenia, he is aware that he has been diagnosed with schizophrenia but questions the diagnosis because he doesn’t experience hallucinations. Dr. Komer has not assessed Mr. Palmer as being incapable to consent to his psychiatric treatment because of the uncertainty of the diagnosis.
d. Dr. Komer testified that Mr. Palmer has no insight into his substance use disorder. Mr. Palmer has admitted that he wants to consume illicit substances and alcohol and, if left to his own devices, would do so.
e. Mr. Palmer’s violence may or may not be driven by psychotic symptoms. His violence against Dr. Alatishe was not driven by psychotic symptoms.
f. Mr. Palmer was again, just yesterday, researching knives on the computer. Mr. Palmer will not explain why he is researching knives.
g. Dr. Komer testified that, in order to assist Mr. Palmer with getting out of seclusion, it will be necessary to get a better idea of what motivated his violence in the past. Mr. Palmer needs to engage with the treatment team “rather than just telling them to go away”. He needs to discuss why he is researching weapons. Dr. Komer made it clear that seclusion is not in any way being used as a punishment. Rather, he is secluded for the safety of staff and other patients. Dr. Komer stated that he believes that Mr. Palmer would like to be out of seclusion. However, Mr. Palmer is not open regarding his issues with violence. He refuses to discuss the index offences, and he has refused to discuss the assault on his psychiatrist.
- No further evidence was called by the parties.
Analysis and Conclusions:
Having heard and considered the entirety of the evidence, as well as the joint submission of the parties, the Board independently finds that Mr. Palmer continues to represent a significant threat to the safety of the public.
The panel accepted the Clinical Assessment of Risk, authored by Dr. Komer on September 17, 2025, extracted as follows (at page 130):
“Mr. Palmer is a significant threat to the safety of the public. He has been
diagnosed with a major mental illness, namely Schizophrenia. Mr. Palmer
also has an Antisocial Personality Disorder and a Substance Use
Disorder, the latter of which, is in remission in a controlled environment.
He has requested that the Ontario Review Board permit him to use
cannabis and consume alcohol which reflects the high likelihood that there
will be a relapse in substance use in the future. Mr. Palmer is not
currently taking any antipsychotic medications and has asserted that he
does not want to take them so as to be able to demonstrate that he will not
become psychotic without taking them. He committed serious index
offences which have been described as random acts on strangers.
Subsequent to committing his index offences, he had progressed through
the forensic system without discussing his thought processes around the
time they occurred. Mr. Palmer has displayed acts of physical aggression,
without preceding signs, including against correctional officers and his
psychiatrist at the West Fifth Campus in Hamilton. He has used weapons
including a pen which he concealed and used when he attacked his
psychiatrist during an interview. He was transferred from Hamilton to
Waypoint as a result of him requiring high security to manage his risk. Mr. Palmer continues to refuse to discuss the reason(s) why he has been
physically aggressive towards others.”
In light of the Board’s finding of significant threat, it is charged with shaping a Disposition for the coming year. All parties were ad idem regarding the Disposition, specifically that there should be no change to the current Disposition. The evidence supported the position of the parties.
Mr. Palmer has a long history of criminal activity both as a youth and as an adult. Mr. Palmer committed a violent assault with a weapon against his psychiatrist at St. Joseph’s on November 21, 2024. Up until the assault against his psychiatrist, he progressed through the forensic system passively, without discussing his index offences and the consequences of his substance use. Mr. Palmer has remained in seclusion the entirety of his admission to Waypoint. He continues to research knives, as recently as the day prior to the hearing, and will not disclose the reason why he does so. He is completely guarded regarding the reasons for his violence.
In consideration of all the evidence, the joint submissions of the parties, and the criteria set forth in s. 672.54, the paramount consideration being the safety of the public, in addition to the mental condition of Mr. Palmer, his reintegration into society and his other needs, the necessary and appropriate disposition is a Detention Disposition with no change to the current Detention Order.
DATED this 2nd day of February 2026, at the City of Toronto, in the Toronto Region.
Ms. C. Murray
Legal Member
Office of the Registrar
Ontario Review Board