Col. Russell Williams, seen in a Canadian Forces file photo, is accused of two murders and two home-invasion sex attacks. (Department of National Defence/Canadian Press)

The former commander at Canadian Forces Base Trenton in eastern Ontario, facing multiple murder allegations, has been taken off 24-hour suicide watch in jail — just days after he tried to kill himself — and has begun a hunger strike, sources say.

Col. Russell Williams attempted suicide early Saturday morning by jamming a cardboard toilet-paper tube down his throat.

He was rescued by staff at the Quinte Detention Centre in nearby Napanee, Ont., the provincial facility where he's been incarcerated since his arrest in early February on accusations he committed two murders and two sexual assaults.

Williams, 47, wrote a suicide note in mustard on the wall of his segregation cell, stating his affairs were in order and that his feelings were too much to bear.

After the incident, Williams was assessed by a psychiatrist, who concluded he was not suicidal in the classic sense, but rather that he simply wanted to die, sources said.

For this reason, the onerous around-the-clock surveillance and restrictions in place since the weekend were eased Tuesday.

Williams stopped eating on Tuesday also, although he has not made any demands related to the hunger strike.

A map of eastern Ontario shows the location of CFB Trenton, the air base that Williams commanded, as well as the surrounding communities. (CBC)

Provincial corrections officials would not discuss Williams's case.

"Privacy legislation prevents us from disclosing health-care information about individual inmates in our custody," said Stuart McGetrick, a Toronto spokesman for the Ministry of Correctional Services.

McGetrick said when an offender stops eating or drinking, he is monitored closely.

"We can't compel an inmate to consume food or fluids," he said. "If an inmate required medical attention, they would receive it."

Williams is charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of air force flight attendant Cpl. Marie-France Comeau, 37, and Jessica Lloyd, 27, of Belleville. Comeau worked at CFB Trenton.

He also is charged with home-invasion sex attacks on two women in September 2009, also in eastern Ontario.

He was arrested Feb. 7 and has been at Quinte since.