Rocky Manu fights for release from forensic mental health order 12 years after the death of flatmate Jasmine Roennfeldt

A man who has spent years in prison after being found not guilty of his roommate’s murder is fighting to be released from his forensic mental health order. See how this case led to a reckoning of the NT’s mental health system.

Alice Springs mental health advocate Jasmine Roennfeldt, also known as Gwyynyth Cassiopeia-Roennfeldt, was stabbed by her flatmate Rocky Manu on 14 November 2011.

A man whose violent decline led to a reckoning within the Territory’s mental health system could soon be released from the forensic order he has lived under since the brutal killing of his “gentle, caring” flatmate.

Rocky Manu appeared before the Supreme Court in Darwin on Wednesday in a bid to be “unconditionally discharged” from his forensic mental health order, 12 years after the death of his Alice Springs roommate Gwyynyth Cassiopeia-Roennfeldt, known to her family as Jasmine.

The 36-year-old mental health advocate, who herself suffered from a schizoaffective disorder, was found dead with four knives protruding from her body, in the long-term supported accommodation unit she shared with Manu in November 2011.

At the time of the killing, Manu was in the grips of an “acutely psychotic” episode, having not been effectively treated or medicated for his paranoid schizophrenia for three and a half months.

The 43-year-old was found not guilty of murder by reason of his mental impairment, but was still detained in Alice Springs Correctional Centre as a ‘Part-IIa prisoner’ under a custodial supervision order.

The lack of secure forensic mental health hospital facilities in the NT means Manu and other mentally impaired Territorians face potentially indefinite terms in imprisonment— despite never being found guilty.

Northern Territory Supreme Court in Darwin, NT generic. Picture: Zizi Averill

Coroner Greg Cavanagh said “serious inadequacies” in Manu’s treatment meant the killer “fell through the gaps”, with the 2013 inquest revealing a “disturbing lack of effective leadership and management” in the Central Australian Mental Health Service, communication breakdowns between in and out patient teams, and deficiencies in their joint tenancy arrangement.

“Rocky’s paranoid delusions became extremely dangerous and it appears that he stabbed Jasmine because he had an irrational belief that this gentle, caring women, who had befriended and helped him during the two years they lived together, was in some way trying to harm him,” Mr Cavanagh said.

His sister Claudia Manu-Preston — herself the general manager of Mental Health Association of Central Australia — fought with his treatment team, calling for him to be placed under an involuntary Community Management Order months before the killing.

Mr Cavanagh said Manu’s family had repeatedly raised their dissatisfaction with his “case management and lack thereof” and both families said they wanted to be more involved and informed about medical decisions made about their loved ones.

“There is no doubt that Jasmine’s death highlighted serious and unacceptable flaws in the provision of mental health services in Alice Springs,” Mr Cavanaugh said.

“The challenge is to ensure that the reforms introduced in the wake of Jasmine’s death are sustained.

“That is the least that we as a society can do in order to honour her life and work.”

Echoing a phrase Ms Roennfeldt often told those around her, Mr Cavanagh said it was critical to “see the person, not the illness”.

Alice Springs mental health advocate Jasmine Roennfeldt, also known as Gwyynyth Cassiopeia-Roennfeldt, was stabbed by her flatmate Rocky Manu on 14 November 2011.

Justice Judith Kelly heard Manu’s mental health treatments team recommended he be released unconditionally from the forensic supervision order and onto a CMO.

This is the same type of order Manu’s sister unsuccessfully pushed for him to be placed under in the months before Ms Roennfeldt’s death.

Barrister for the chief health officer, Ruth Brebner, highlighted Manu had been living in private accommodation since 2022 and the expert evidence was that he could move to a non-custodial but still involuntary treatment plan.

Crown Prosecutor Damien Jones said Ms Roennfeldt’s family still held concerns about the unconditional release of their loved one’s killer, however he added they were not being “vindictive or seeking revenge”.

Mr Jones acknowledged the medical evidence provided largely “addresses the concerns expressed by the Roennfeldt’s family”, and he was prepared to act as a “conduit” between them and his psychologist.

His mental health review was adjourned to Thursday, September 12.

Originally published as Rocky Manu fights for release from forensic mental health order 12 years after the death of flatmate Jasmine Roennfeldt