Man who repeatedly stabbed stranger in park 10 years ago ordered detained in psychiatric hospital

Ten years after an unprovoked stabbing in a Victoria park, the attacker has been found not criminally responsible and will be detained in a psychiatric hospital, according to police.

A 49-year-old man was seriously injured when he was repeatedly stabbed in the head, face and chest by a stranger in Beacon Hill Park in January 2014. The assailant fled when the attack was interrupted by two witnesses.

Police quickly released a sketch of the suspect, but it would take significant advances in DNA evidence technology before a suspect was identified, according to a press release from the Victoria Police Department.

Paul Cowie was found not criminally responsible because of a mental disorder in June, police say. Last month, the B.C. Review Board ordered him to be detained in a psychiatric hospital, with a review scheduled after 12 months.

"I'm incredibly proud of the effort and determination of our officers to identify the suspect in this investigation," Victoria Police Chief Del Manak said in the news release.

"Despite several years having passed since the incident, our officers remained focused on solving this file, and ultimately it was that prolonged effort, teamwork, and problem solving that led to the arrest."

Investigators say the turning point came in 2018, when they submitted DNA evidence from the scene to the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) in the U.S., which was not available to them in 2014. The sample matched one taken during an arrest in Wyoming.

Police say that after the stabbing, Cowie had travelled from Vancouver Island to Alberta, then stole a Parks Canada vehicle and headed south across the border, until he was arrested by rangers in Yellowstone National Park.

Investigators then tracked Cowie's current location to Brandon, Man., where he was arrested by Victoria police in November 2019. Crown prosecutors charged him with aggravated assault.