Two more escapes on weekend; continuing series of prison breaks sparked suspension of deputy minister and internal review
By JOE FRIESEN
Globe & Mail
SASKATCHEWAN — Two more prison breaks in Saskatchewan - one foiled, the other that saw an 18-year-old man get away - have once again cast a spotlight on the province’s troubled justice system.
On Friday, four young men broke out of the Paul Dojack Youth Centre, a large jail on the outskirts of Regina. Three were captured soon afterward, but police are continuing to search for Joseph Desjarlais, 18, who is wanted on a Canadawide warrant. Police would not say why he was in jail, citing the restrictions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act, but said they obtained a court order to have his name made public.
A day later, two 25-year-old men attempted to escape from the Saskatoon Correctional Centre. They tried to get out by climbing a fence, but were caught by corrections workers before they could get away.
These are the latest in a series of incidents that began with the spectacular escape of six inmates, many facing murder charges, from the Regina Correctional Centre on Aug. 24. Among them was Daniel Richard Wolfe, a founding member of the Indian Posse street gang, and several of his Indian Posse associates.
The men escaped through a hole dug in a cinderblock wall and concealed behind a kind of radiator grille that could be removed and replaced. They then used blankets to protect themselves as they climbed over a barbed-wire fence. One man was recaptured hours later in a nearby farm field. But Mr. Wolfe, who topped the RCMP’s most-wanted list, eluded police for nearly a month before they captured him in Winnipeg.
In October, court officials mistakenly released two men who should have been kept in jail, in one case because they didn’t realize he was awaiting another trial, and in the other case because they misunderstood the judge’s eight-month sentence as a sentence of time already served.
The provincial cabinet took the highly unusual step of suspending the deputy minister of corrections, the department’s top civil servant, pending an internal investigation.
In a strange twist, another man who should have been released was kept in jail for six months after his sentence expired, despite repeated complaints to jail guards and a prison caseworker. Last month, Premier Brad Wall publicly apologized to 19-year-old Kyle Dufresne for the mistake, and Mr. Dufresne is considering a lawsuit.
Corrections Minister Darryl Hickie has so far resisted the Opposition NDP’s call for his resignation. His office declined to comment for this story.
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(ALMOST ALL) BACK IN THE SLAMMER AGAIN
Saskatoon, Nov. 8
Two 25-year-old inmates were foiled while trying to escape over a prison fence on Saturday night at the Saskatoon Correctional Centre. They were charged with attempting to escape lawful custody, and one faces an additional weapons charge.
Regina, Nov. 7
Four young men escaped from the Paul Dojack Youth Centre on Regina’s western edge. Three were arrested shortly after. Joseph Desjarlais, 18, remains at large.
Regina, Oct. 22
John Albert Dumont walked away from the provincial courthouse in Regina after a guard mistakenly released him. He had been acquitted on a robbery charge but was facing a second trial in a separate case that should have kept him in jail. He was arrested on the Peepeekisis Reserve in Saskatchewan on Oct. 26.
Saskatoon, Oct. 20
Alan Mark Scott, 32, was mistakenly released after an appearance in Saskatoon Provincial Court. Guards thought he had been sentenced to time already served, when in fact he still faced eight more months in jail. He was arrested on Oct. 25 in Prince Albert, Sask.
Regina, Aug. 24
Six inmates escaped from the Regina Correctional Centre after scraping a hole in the cinder-block wall and concealing it behind a radiator cover. They then scaled a barbed-wire fence using blankets to protect themselves. It later emerged that top prison officials knew of an escape plot 10 days beforehand.
Kenneth Iron was caught two hours after the Sunday night jail break in a farm field not far from the prison. He was initially charged with attempted murder, but was awaiting trial on criminal negligence causing bodily harm.
James Joseph Pewean, 25, who is charged with second-degree murder, was captured on Friday, Aug. 29, at a home in Regina.
Preston Clarence Buffalocalf, 22, who is on trial for first-degree murder, was captured at a Winnipeg apartment building on Sept. 9, along with Cody Dillon Keenatch, 19.
Daniel Richard Wolfe, 32, faces two counts of first-degree murder and three counts of attempted murder. He was captured in Winnipeg on Sept. 17 after nearly a month on the run.
Ryan John Agecoutay, 25, was arrested on Sept. 23, after police surrounded a home on Saskatchewan’s Star Blanket First Nation. Shots were fired from the house before the arrest. At the time of the breakout he was awaiting trial for aggravated assault.
Copyright 2008 Globe & Mail