Toronto killer, 65, charged after escaping from CAMH
Posted January 30, 2026 10:39 pm.
Last Updated January 31, 2026 3:32 pm.
A 65-year-old man who escaped from a psychiatric facility in the West Queen West neighbourhood on Friday has been found safe after an hours-long search.
Police say Thomas Brailsford left the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) without authorization on Jan. 30 and was last seen in the Queen Street West and Dovercourt Road area around 3 p.m.
He was found unharmed later that night just before 11 p.m. and was charged with failure to comply with an Ontario Review Board disposition, which sets the conditions for individuals who are found not criminally responsible for an offence due to mental illness.
In 2010, Brailsford was charged with first-degree murder in the death of his 78-year-old mother, Barbara Starkey-Brailsford, who was found beheaded in her Scarlett Road apartment.
Brailsford was ultimately found not criminally responsible and was sent to CAMH treatment.
He has gone missing on at least three other occasions since 2014 while in custody.
