The son of Elizabeth Wettlaufer's first murder victim says he's frustrated that he had to fight to learn where the serial killer nurse is being held in custody.

Daniel Silcox, son of James Silcox, 84, says he learned Wednesday that Wettlaufer, 51, is being held at the Institut Philippe-Pinel de Montreal, a secure psychiatric hospital that offers care for women serving federal sentences.

He says it took several phone conversations and a call to the Correctional Service of Canada victims' services by Global News to get the information. Global was the first news outlet to report on Silcox's battle.

"It's been infuriating to be honest — not to know where this woman is," Silcox said.

Silcox, whose father was killed at the Caressant Care home in Woodstock, Ont., said he learned about seven months ago through the victims' services portal that Wettlaufer had been moved to Montreal for "medical purposes," but thought the move was going to be temporary.

James Silcox said he learned about seven months ago that Elizabeth Wettlaufer had been moved to Montreal for 'medical purposes,' but thought the move was going to be temporary. (Submitted by Silcox family)

CBC News reported in October 2017 that Wettlaufer had been moved to an undisclosed location because she had received threats while serving her sentence at the Grand Valley Institution for Women in Kitchener, Ont. A source told CBC at the time that the former nurse — who confessed to murdering eight senior citizens in her care and attempting to murder six others in Southwestern Ontario between 2007 and 2016 — had been depressed.

It is not known when Wettlaufer was transferred to the psychiatric hospital in Montreal.

Silcox said he had been told by victims' services that Wettlaufer's exact location was classified "for privacy reasons." But that changed this week after he went to the media.

"All of the sudden they realized it would be good to let us know where she is, so they called me back [Wednesday] morning to let me know she was in Phillipe-Pinel institute," Silcox said, calling the search for information "frustrating."

"I don't think her right to privacy trumps our right to know where she is."

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Wettlaufer is serving a life sentence, with no chance of parole for 25 years, for the crimes she committed while working as a registered nurse in long-term care. A public inquiry into how she was able to get away with her crimes for so long wrapped up in September, with a final report slated to come in July 2019.

What is the Institut Phillippe-Pinel?

The psychiatric hospital where Silcox says his father's killer is being held is described online as "a leading reference in the field of forensic psychiatry in Quebec and around the world."

It includes a 15-bed care unit for women serving federal sentences, with stays varying from a few weeks to several months. The unit offers crisis treatment for women whose psychiatric problems exceed services that can be offered in jail, and a voluntary dialectic behaviour therapy program for offenders with severe personality disorder.

CBC News contacted the institution for comment and was told that patient information could not be disclosed.

Further information was also requested from the Correctional Service of Canada about Wettlaufer's whereabouts, but CBC News was told that the branch of government "could not comment on a specific case or disclose information about the location of an offender" as per the Privacy Act.

2 controversies linked to Woodstock, Ont.

Victoria (Tori) Stafford disappeared outside her elementary school in Woodstock on April 8, 2009. Her partially clothed remains were found more than three months later. (Canadian Press)

Silcox's fight for answers about Wettlaufer's location comes amid debate in the House of Commons over child killer Terri-Lynne McClintic's transfer to an Indigenous healing lodge. McClintic is serving a life sentence for her role in the rape and murder of eight-year-old Tori Stafford of Woodstock, Ont., and is not eligible for parole until 2031.

Silcox said he began looking into Wettlaufer's transfer before he heard about McClintic's move, but added that he sees parallels between the two cases with ties to Woodstock.

"If you looked out my father's window, you would've been able to see the sidewalk where Stafford was abducted. It all happened in the very same neighbourhood, and so I'm very passionate about this," he said, adding that he thinks the government should be more forthcoming with victims' families.

"If a government is hiding behind a cloak of secrecy, using privacy as an excuse to not communicate to victims, that's not right.

"It just is not right."