The man accused of stabbing and seriously injuring an Abbotsford, B.C., laundromat owner on Saturday was out of prison, on conditions, for stabbing a paraplegic man multiple times, parole board documents reveal.
Timothy Richard Louis Rowley, 40, has been charged with assault with a weapon and aggravated assault in the Aug. 9 incident.
Rowley was out of prison on statutory release, a provision in Canadian law that requires that most offenders be released to complete the final third of their sentence under supervision in the community.
In a decision applying a variety of conditions on Rowley’s release, dated July 10, the Parole Board of Canada revealed more details about the offence that landed him in his most recent bout of prison.
In May 2019, while he was intoxicated, Rowley attempted to use a shoelace to strangle a man who was being interviewed by the police the documents state.
He was arrested and released pending a future court date. But nine hours later, he entered the home of a 57-year-old paraplegic man who was watching TV.
“You set fire to his property and then attacked him. You stabbed him repeatedly with a knife. This victim suffered six stab wounds, two rib fractures, and a pneumothorax. This victim spent five days in hospital for treatment,” the document states.
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Witness Chelsea McFarlane was at the Maple Ridge apartment building when she interrupted Rowley in the victim’s unit.
“I came in to check on him and the place was filled with smoke, and the man was in the living room. And he was, you could tell he wasn’t mentally stable, he was saying he wanted to see the smoke,” she said.
“The man had come in and turned on all the burners on his stove and put all his cutting boards, his plastic cutting boards, on the stove.”
McFarlane watched as Rowley ran around the apartment and grabbed a knife from the kitchen.
“Steve went in the bedroom to call the police, and he followed him in there and started stabbing him. Steve was saying, ‘He’s stabbing me, he’s stabbing me!'” she added.
“It was a very scary day for everyone.”
According to the parole board, the “victim describes that he defended himself during the attack, that he feared for his life, and that he was subsequently hospitalized for his injuries.”
“The victim expresses significant concern regarding your history of violence and your potential access to the community,” it adds.
“Additional file information notes that this same victim has previously expressed concern about potentially encountering you within the community.”
Rowley pleaded guilty to breaking and entering, assault with a weapon and aggravated assault, and was handed a sentence just short of six years.
According to the parole board decision, Rowley was paroled twice, both unsuccessfully.
“Your lengthy history of criminal behaviour and poor performance under conditional release clearly indicate that you have significant difficulties controlling/managing your antisocial impulses,” it notes.
In 2022, he was granted day parole, which was suspended within a month after he walked away from a residential treatment program.
His parole was reinstated in March 2023, and he was directed to live in a community correctional centre because the residential treatment centre wouldn’t take him.
According to the parole board, this time Rowley breached his conditions multiple times, including testing positive for methamphetamine, fentanyl and cannabis. He later stole a store employee’s wallet, then hid in a bathroom and stripped naked. He was re-arrested after trashing someone’s trailer.
The decision also notes Rowley’s problems adhering to regulations while behind bars, noting he tested positive for methamphetamine, admitted to possessing a “shank,” and was caught with a cell phone he used to coordinate bringing drugs into prison.
And it recounted his extensive criminal record, including more than 20 convictions dating back to 2004 for offences including assault causing bodily harm, assaulting a peace officer, vehicle theft, weapons charges, causing unnecessary suffering to an animal and fraud.
At the time of Saturday’s Abbotsford stabbing, Rowley was wanted by police for being unlawfully at large from his parole jurisdiction.
He remains in custody, but McFarlane said he should not have been out in the first place.
“Something needs to change obviously, with the mental health system, the justice system,” she said.
“I think he should be put in a more contained — he shouldn’t be out, for sure.”
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