Tyler John Cousineau found not criminally responsible for deaths of 2 Fort Frances residents

A Fort Frances man charged with second degree murder in the deaths of two people in that community last year has been found not criminally responsible, but will remain in custody.

Tyler John Cousineau was charged with two counts of second degree murder in the deaths of Lovern Affleck, 77, and Carol Affleck, 66 in March, 2017.

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In Superior Court, a judge accepted a joint recommendation from the Crown and defence that Cousineau be found not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder.

The recommendation did, however, call for him to be designated as a high-risk accused person.

That means Cousineau was placed in custody in a medical facility with conditions. Down the road, if the Ontario Review Board rules to change that status, it will have to be referred back to the Superior Court of Justice.

The high-risk accused designation is used when a court finds that there is a "substantial likelihood" that the accused will be violent to the point of endangering another person's life or safety, or that the acts of which the accused was charged were "of such a brutal nature" that they could cause "grave physical or psychological harm" to someone else, according to the Criminal Code.