Suicide, homicide or accident: Still no cause in death of inmate

8-23-2011 Canada:

"The picture is starting to get a little bit clearer" as to how an accused sex offender suffered fatal injuries at the Niagara Detention Centre last week, said the lead police investigator looking into the case.

However, police are still trying to figure out how the inmate was injured and if a crime was involved, said Det. Sgt. Budd Rung of the Niagara Regional Police major crime unit..

Kelvin Sawa, 46, died in hospital Thursday after suffering serious injuries while behind bars at the Thorold facility Aug. 15

A member of the man's family, neighbours and a co-worker identified Sawa as the inmate who died. Sawa was in custody on charges of sexual assault and sexual interference. The allegations were made earlier this month and involved a 14-year-old male.

Rung said he hopes to know in the next week or two whether charges will be laid in connection with the death.

"I'm not going to rush into anything," he said, adding none of the possible suspects are flight risks.

"We know where everybody is, we're not worried about people fleeing."

The detective said one thing is clear — the inmate didn't die of natural causes.

He wouldn't say what type of injuries the man suffered or his cause of death. He said the coroner's office, which is also conducting an investigation, is still doing some testing. An autopsy was held Friday in Hamilton.

Rung said with natural causes ruled out, that leaves accident, suicide and homicide as possible causes.

"There was a series of events that occurred," he said. "I just can't get any more specific than that."

He said detectives are interviewing inmates and reviewing surveillance video.

"He wasn't in general population, but he also wasn't in an area alone," he said of the inmate.

Rung confirmed no other inmates were injured in connection with the incident.

Sawa's niece, Kelly, who didn't want her last name published, said last week she thinks Sawa was murdered.

She also told the Standard she believes Sawa was innocent of the charges and that he never should have been behind bars in the first place.

Dr. Jack Stanborough, regional supervising coroner, said previously an inquest is mandatory in all inmate deaths when the cause is not natural. ..Source.. by Erica Bajer, Standard Staff

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Detention Centre Murder Victim Identified

11-3-2011 Canada:

Jeremy Hall and Cale Rose were both arrested today for second-degree murder in the death of 46-year-old Kelvin Sawa.

All three of the men were inmates at the Niagara Regional Detention Centre on Monday, Aug. 15 this past summer, when at approximately 2:14 p.m., members of the Niagara Regional Police Service Uniform Branch and Niagara E.M.S. responded to the Detention Centre in Thorold for a report of an inmate in need of medical assistance. The male was subsequently transported to the Niagara Health System with life-threatening injuries.

On Thursday, August 18, 2011, investigators with the N.R.P.S. were notified by medical staff of the Niagara Health System that the inmate had died. A post-mortem examination took place at the Hamilton General Hospital to assist in determining the cause of death.

Although the identity of the deceased in this incident has not been previously released by the police, it had been widely reported in local media that the deceased is Kelvin Sawa. After continuing the investigation into the circumstances surrounding this incident, members of the N.R.P.S. Major Crime Unit and #1 District Detective Office are now confirming that Kelvin Sawa, a 46-year-old resident of Port Colborne, is, in fact, the deceased.

On Thursday, November 3, 2011, members of the Major Crime Unit arrested and charged 37-year-old Jeremy W. Hall and Cale A. Rose, age 28, in the death of Sawa. Both of these individuals were inmates at the Niagara Regional Detention Centre at the time of this incident and at the time of their arrests in this matter, were in custody at other correctional facilities on unrelated charges.

Both males will appear in court today at the Robert S.K. Welch Courthouse, 59 Church St. in St. Catharines. ..Source.. by Cathy Pelletier

Child rapist 'stamped to death in his prison cell by fellow inmate'

8-4-2010 United Kingdom:

A child rapist has allegedly been stamped to death in his prison cell by a fellow inmate.

Robert Coello, 44, who was serving a sentence for sexually assaulting a minor, was found with head injuries in his cell in G wing of HMP Grendon in Buckinghamshire on Sunday.

He was taken to Stoke Mandeville Hospital but pronounced dead later that day, Thames Valley Police said.

The force said a 25-year-old inmate was arrested on Sunday evening before being bailed and returned to prison.

Officers are waiting for results of a post-mortem examination by a Home Office pathologist.

Coello was jailed at Reading Crown Court in August 2006, after admitting four counts of rape and 12 other sexual assaults.

He was serving a minimum seven year sentence.

HMP Grendon opened in 1962 as an experimental psychiatric prison, providing treatment for prisoners with antisocial personality disorders, under the direction of a medical superintendent, according the HM Prison Service website.

It is now run by a Prison Service governor and continues to operate a regime of therapeutic care for offenders.

The prison can house up to 235 inmates in Category B secure conditions, with the six wings operating as autonomous therapeutic communities. Prisoners must be committed to staying drug free while in therapy.

It is believed to be the first time an inmate has been killed in a category B prison.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: 'There has been no change to the type of prisoner held there in recent months, and no change to the vetting process.' ..Source.. by Daily Mail Reporter

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Inmate denies murdering sex offender Robert Coello

10-31-2011:

An inmate killed a sex offender in his cell by kicking and punching him, causing a fatal brain injury, in a "ferocious attack", a court has heard.

Lee Foye, 27, denies murdering Robert Coello, 44, on 1 August 2010 in HM Prison Grendon, Buckinghamshire.

Prosecutor Neil Moore said Foye, who worked out in the gym, despised 11-stone serial child sex offender Coello.

Luton Crown Court heard there was evidence of Foye's footwear on Coello's body but fists may also have been used.

"The evidence is the defendant repeatedly kicked or stamped or both on his head and body," Mr Moore said.

He said two other inmates nearby heard the noise and went to inspect but the window had been covered in tissue paper.

The attack left Coello, originally from Whitley in Berkshire, with multiple fractures.
'Abnormality of mind'

"His head and body were extensively bruised and he suffered a brain injury that caused his death," Mr Moore said.

He said that, after the attack, Foye, originally from Corby in Northamptonshire, removed his bloodied clothes, which were later found in a prison bin.

Mr Moore said that, before the attack, Foye had said of Coello: "People like that should be put down."

At the start of the afternoon court session, Judge Richard Foster told the jury Foye had been taken back to prison because he was feeling unwell.

Mr Moore said psychiatrists found Foye suffered from a social personality disorder and that the defence would argue he had diminished responsibility at the time of the killing.

He urged the jury to consider the lesser charge of manslaughter.

"All those who assessed the defendant, all the experts, say he was suffering from abnormality of the mind at the time of the killing," Mr Moore said.

The case continues. ..Source.. by BBC

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Inmate Lee Foye guilty of prison murder jailed for 35 years

11-15-2011 United Kingdom:

An inmate who beat a sex offender to death in prison has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 35 years after being convicted of murder.

Lee Foye, 26, stamped on Robert Coello, 44, so hard at HM Prison Grendon, Buckinghamshire, that the tread of his shoes could be seen on Coello's body.

Luton Crown Court heard Foye despised the serial child sex offender.

After convicting Foye the jury was told he was serving life for murdering a former lover in front of her son.

Judge Richard Foster said Foye's jail sentence would run concurrently to the 16-year sentence he is serving for his first murder.
Inquiry call

It means Foye cannot even be considered for parole until he is aged 61.

Jailing him at Luton Crown Court the judge said: "It was a callous, premeditated murder of a helpless victim."

Judge Foster said Foye had "manipulated the prison authorities to facilitate" his move to Grendon saying he had chosen Coello as his victim "perhaps because he had been vocal about his own offending."

The judge said: "I hope there will be a full inquiry into how appropriate it was for Lee Foye to be kept at HMP Grendon."

The court heard Coello, of Whitley, Reading, was attacked after he upset prisoners with graphic details of his crimes.

He had been placed in a wing with prisoners who were not sex offenders because the prison was so full and under its regime had been encouraged to talk about his feelings with other inmates, the court heard.

Foye carried out a ferocious attack on Coello after going into his cell and locking the door behind him.

Foye, who had boycotted the trial and was not present for the verdict, cut off both his ears in Woodhill Prison, Milton Keynes, while waiting for the case to come to court.

His defence had argued he should be convicted of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
Toddler's cries

Two women jurors cried when the prosecution revealed Foye's previous victim, Lauren Strachan, 19, of Corby, suffered 47 different stab wounds and 28 other injuries in August 2005.

Foye, then 20, was living with another woman at the time and is believed to have gone to Ms Strachan for sex and then killed her when she threatened to tell his girlfriend.

Her body was found the following morning when neighbours heard the cries of her two-year-old son.

Patrick Mandikate, the prison's head of psychotherapy, admitted he was "uneasy" with the decision to place Coello on G Wing last year.

He said: "It was made clear to me in no uncertain terms that we needed to fill these beds no matter who was available." ..Source.. by BBC

Dorchester inmate's death a homicide: RCMP

9-13-2010 Canada:

The New Brunswick RCMP are ruling the Friday evening death of an inmate at the Dorchester Penitentiary a homicide.

The RCMP released a statement on Monday that said that based on evidence gained from an autopsy, Daniel Pépin was the victim of a homicide.

Pépin, 44, of Quebec, died after an altercation with another inmate at the Shepody Healing Centre.

The RCMP is continuing its investigation into the death.

Dorchester Penitentiary is a medium-security facility southeast of Moncton that can house 415 offenders, according to its website.

The prison offers special programs and facilities, including the Shepody centre, which is the regional treatment facility for the Atlantic provinces.

The penitentiary provides programs that include anger management, community integration, employability skills, sex offender rehabilitation, family violence prevention and substance abuse treatment. ..Source.. byCBC News

Child molester killed in Canadian prison

11-11-2008 Canada:

The inmate killed in a riot at a Canadian prison was a convicted child molester serving an indefinite sentence, officials said Sunday.

Michael Gibbon, 39, was the only prisoner to die in the riot Saturday night at Mountain Institution, a medium-security prison in British Columbia, the Toronto Globe and Mail reported. Dave Lefebvre, a spokesman for the Correctional Service of Canada, said another inmate was hospitalized.

Gibbon, a lifelong resident of Chilliwack, a city west of Vancouver and a few miles north of the U.S. border, was sentenced to three months in 1992 for molesting a boy. He was imprisoned in 1997 for child pornography and sexual assault.

Inmates began breaking windows in the gymnasium at about 9:45 p.m., Lefebvre said. As the riot escalated, they began attacking each other.

Homicide investigators from Vancouver were called in to investigate Gibbon's death. The Correctional Service and the coroner will conduct independent investigations, Lefebvre said. ..News Source.. by UPI

Murdered prisoner should have been moved: lawyer

6-11-2003 Canada:

The lawyer for a murdered pedophile says his jailers failed to protect him.

On Monday, guards found 46-year-old Richard Hatton dead in his cell at the Regional Detention Centre.

His cellmate, 29-year-old Daniel Labelle, is charged with second-degree murder.

Richard Hatton had been in the Regional Detention Centre since his arrest for violating the terms of a long-term supervision order.

Carol Sparling, a spokeswoman for the National Parole Board, says Hatton was being held awaiting a hearing to see if he should go back to federal prison.

"The breach had to do with being in an area where he was not supposed to be," says Sparling. "It had to do with a breach of an alcohol condition that he admitted to doing. There wasn't anything of involvement with children."

But Hatton did have a long history of criminal involvement with children. He had been convicted seven times for sexual offences against children.

That history made Hatton a target for other inmates, and officials at the detention centre should have known that, says his lawyer, Joshua Zambrowski of Kingston.

"There is a legal onus on any detention centre, prison or penitentiary to take reasonable care to protect all prisoners. And the fact that he was sharing a cell with some other offender is in my view irresponsible and negligent," says Zambrowski.

Hatton had spent about a month at the provincial detention facility, according to Zambrowski. He says his client, a federal inmate, should have been moved much sooner to a federal prison where he would have been safer. ..more.. by CBC News

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Inquest probes pedophile's slaying by cellmate
6-19-2007 Canada:

Mentally ill inmates should be housed separately from other prisoners, a schizophrenic man who killed his cellmate four years ago told a coroner's inquest.

Daniel Labelle was testifying Monday via videoconference at the inquest in Ottawa into the death of 46-year-old Robert Hatton in 2003.

Hatton was intellectually disabled and had been convicted seven times for sexual offences against children, but was being held in the Ottawa Carleton Regional Detention Centre for a parole violation.

Labelle strangled Hatton in June 2003 and was later convicted of manslaughter. He's now serving an eight-year sentence at Penetanguishene Psychiatric Hospital.

Labelle, speaking from the hospital, said that before the slaying, he was scared that his cellmate, who weighed about 300 pounds, would try to rape him.

He said he asked repeatedly to be moved to another cell, but his request was denied.

Labelle apologized for what happened, and wanted the inquest to recommend that people with mental illness be housed separately.

Sister backs separate housing idea

As part of the inquest, Hatton's sister, Beverley Poste, spoke from Ottawa to Labelle during the videoconference Monday.

She agreed that people with mental illness should be housed separately, and said so should people who have been convicted of sex crimes.

"Both of those types of individuals are ill in one way or another and really need to be segregated from the rest of the population," Poste told the CBC following the day's testimony.

Pedophiles, in particular, are often targets of violence by other prisoners.

Poste said the inquest was useful, allowing her and Labelle to tell their sides of the story.

"I've explained to him … my brother that I knew and grew up with," she said after testifying.

She described Hatton as being "like a monster bird in a little wee nest."

Despite his enormous size, she said, "he didn't have a mean bone in his body. He couldn't be riled, he couldn't be angered and he certainly would have fallen over if Daniel had even pushed him."

But she said she was not angry at Labelle, as she recognized he was a sick man.

"He expressed horrendous anxiety about being celled with my brother and he didn't feel that the powers that be listened to him," she said. "He didn't anticipate murdering, and I honestly believe that."

The inquest is expected to end Friday. ..more.. by CBC News

Inquest probes pedophile's slaying by cellmate

6-19-2007 Canada:
Mentally ill inmates should be housed separately from other prisoners, a schizophrenic man who killed his cellmate four years ago told a coroner's inquest.

Daniel Labelle was testifying Monday via videoconference at the inquest in Ottawa into the death of 46-year-old Robert Hatton in 2003.

Hatton was intellectually disabled and had been convicted seven times for sexual offences against children, but was being held in the Ottawa Carleton Regional Detention Centre for a parole violation.

Labelle strangled Hatton in June 2003 and was later convicted of manslaughter. He's now serving an eight-year sentence at Penetanguishene Psychiatric Hospital.

Labelle, speaking from the hospital, said that before the slaying, he was scared that his cellmate, who weighed about 300 pounds, would try to rape him.

He said he asked repeatedly to be moved to another cell, but his request was denied.

Labelle apologized for what happened, and wanted the inquest to recommend that people with mental illness be housed separately.

Sister backs separate housing idea
As part of the inquest, Hatton's sister, Beverly Post, spoke from Ottawa to Labelle during the videoconference Monday.

She agreed that people with mental illness should be housed separately, and said so should people who have been convicted of sex crimes.

"Both of those types of individuals are ill in one way or another and really need to be segregated from the rest of the population," she told the CBC following the day's testimony.

Pedophiles, in particular, are often targets of violence by other prisoners.

Post said the inquest was useful, allowing her and Labelle to tell their sides of the story.

"I've explained to him … my brother that I knew and grew up with," said Post after testifying.

She described Hatton as being "like a monster bird in a little wee nest."

Despite his enormous size, she said, "he didn't have a mean bone in his body. He couldn't be riled, he couldn't be angered and he certainly would have fallen over if Daniel had even pushed him."

But she said she was not angry at Labelle, as she recognized he was a sick man.

"He expressed horrendous anxiety about being celled with my brother and he didn't feel that the powers that be listened to him," she said. "He didn't anticipate murdering, and I honestly believe that."

The inquest is expected to end Friday. ..more.. by CBC News

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Construction put prisoner in killer’s way
6-19-2007 Canada:

Ideally, inmates with psychological problems are not supposed to be put in the same jail cell as high-risk offenders such as pedophiles, a coroner's inquest heard Tuesday. But crowding is often a problem at the Ottawa Carleton Detention Centre - and in the spring of 2003, construction made the situation even worse.

That is how Daniel Labelle, a schizophrenic inmate at the facility, ended up in the same cell as Robert Hatton, a convicted pedophile, Jean-Marc Joly, security manager at the centre, testified.

The match turned out to be deadly, as Mr. Labelle killed Mr. Hatton on June 8, 2003. An autopsy revealed Mr. Hatton died of asphyxiation.

"We just didn't have the cell space to have everyone who has a psychological disorder to have their own cells," Mr. Joly testified. A lack of cell space wasn't the centre's only problem.

A lack of communication between departments in the facility also may have been a contributing factor in Mr. Hatton's death. Tuesday, the psychiatrist contracted to assess Mr. Labelle once a month testified he did not have access to the inmate's psychological, health and criminal files.

Dr. Rufino Balmaceda, a psychiatrist with the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre, said Mr. Labelle appeared "fit" and "not psychotic" just less than a week before he murdered his cellmate. It was determined only after the killing that Mr. Labelle suffered from serious psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia and, on June 8, 2003, he was taking one-tenth of the medication required to maintain a healthy mental state.

Mr. Labelle, 33, is now serving an eight-year sentence at the Penetanguishene Mental Health Centre, after admitting to the crime in November 2006.

Mr. Labelle and Mr. Hatton shared a cell at the detention centre for nearly three weeks starting in late May 2003 as the facility was undergoing renovations. At that time, prison staff placed inmates in cells together based on their psychological problems and their behaviour in jail, but did not take their crimes into account, Mr. Joly said. He did not explain why the decision was made to place Mr. Labelle in a cell with Mr. Hatton.

In recent years, Ontario judges have declared illegal the practice of sending mentally ill people who have been charged with crimes to jail until beds come open at the forensic units of psychiatric hospitals. Yet, because of a lack of beds, the practice continues.

Mr. Joly testified that Mr. Labelle got into repeated fights with other cellmates, and often lashed out, exhibiting erratic behaviour. But Dr. Balmaceda said he was unaware of any such behaviour.

On May 28, in his last report before the killing, he wrote that Mr. Labelle was "not as anxious" and was "sleeping well. I didn't get any sense he was going to be acting up," he testified Tuesday, suggesting that the system would better serve inmates if there were just one health file accessible by all departments.

Currently, psychological, psychiatric and criminal files are not available between departments in order to protect the inmates' privacy, Dr. Balmaceda said.

The inquest also heard from Nick Kennedy, the corrections officer who first noticed Mr. Hatton was unresponsive on June 8, 2003.

Mr. Kennedy said he was serving lunch to the inmates just before 1 p.m. when Mr. Hatton, who appeared to be sleeping, did not respond. He said Mr. Labelle answered for his cellmate, saying that Mr. Hatton "doesn't want to eat."

Suspicious, Mr. Kennedy said he entered the cell and discovered Mr. Hatton was not breathing and did not have a pulse. He called for medical treatment and began to perform CPR.

Mr. Labelle appeared calm that day and seemed content with his cellmate, Mr. Kennedy testified.
But just the day before, the inquest learned Mr. Labelle approached corrections officer Pierre Patenaude at least seven times with written and verbal requests for a cell change.

On Monday, Mr. Labelle testified via video-link from Penetanguishene, saying he wanted to change cells because he didn't want to be housed with a pedophile. Because his numerous requests for a cell change were denied, Mr. Labelle told the inquest he planned to start a fight with Mr. Hatton to get the attention of jail officials. He said he never intended to kill Mr. Hatton.

Mr. Patenaude testified he was fed up with Mr. Labelle's constant requests and threw one of his written requests in the garbage can.

"You could never reason with inmate Labelle," Mr. Patenaude said. "There was always an issue. It was never smooth sailing, never a good day with him."

The inquest continues Wednesday. The five-member jury is expected to make recommendations on how to prevent a case like this from happening again. ..more.. by Ottawa Citizen