Thunder Bay

Adam Capay ordered to undergo new psychiatric assessment after 4 years in solitary confinement

Nearly a year after Adam Capay was assessed and found fit to stand trial on first degree murder, a Thunder Bay court has issued a new psychiatric assessment for the 24-year-old First Nations man who has spent more than four years in solitary confinement.

Trial date set but could be delayed pending results of assessment

A new trial date of March 20 is set for Adam Capay, pending the outcome of a new psychiatric assessment. The 24-year-old has been held in solitary confinement since June 2012. (Alison Jane Capay/askfm)

Nearly a year after Adam Capay was found fit to stand trial on first degree murder, a Thunder Bay court has issued a new psychiatric assessment for the 24-year-old First Nations man who has spent more than four years in solitary confinement.

On Tuesday, Justice Danial Newton issued the inpatient psychiatric assessment at the request of Capay's lawyer, Karen Symes.

The court last ordered Capay to be assessed on Nov. 16, 2015. He was later found fit for trial. The new order goes beyond the interview-style questioning of that test and will likely take place in a psychiatric hospital.

"During the [inpatient] assessment, you might see psychiatrists, nurses, social workers, recreation therapists and psychologists. They are your assessors," says a fact sheet about forensic mental health from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

On Monday, the court set a new trial date of March 20 for Capay. Symes said she agreed to the date as a "target," pending the outcome of the assessment.

The case will come before the court again on January 30, 2017 to determine if the March trial date is viable.

Capay is charged with first degree murder in the death of Sherman Quisses in 2012. At the time, both men were inmates at the Thunder Bay Correctional Centre. Capay has been held in segregation since the incident.