By Thia James

Convicted murderer missing from Sask. Pen

Jan 8, 2015 | 6:33 AM

Editor’s Note:  Sheets has been located and arrested in Saskatoon since the publication of the story.

A man convicted of murder is missing from the minimum security unit of the Saskatchewan Penitentiary.

According to the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC), staff at the prison discovered that Kevin Michael Sheets, 47, was not accounted for during an inmate count on Wednesday. The CSC then contacted the Prince Albert RCMP detachment, which issued a warrant for Sheets’ arrest.

He is serving an indeterminate sentence for second-degree murder and breach of recognizance to keep the peace. According to reports, Sheets was convicted of killing a 34-year-old man in 1997 in Vancouver.

Jeff Campbell, the regional communications manager with the CSC, said staff searched the area and did not find Sheets.

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When asked how Sheets would have gone missing, Campbell said that is one thing they are looking at.

“We’ve got an investigation under way into the circumstances around his escape … so we don’t have finalized results of the investigation yet, but of course, we’re working with the police very diligently to get him back as soon as we can,” Campbell said.

The inmate checks take place several times each day. Sheets wasn’t accounted for during the 8:55 p.m. count.

Campbell said the media release was issued at 2 a.m. – nearly five hours after Sheets was discovered missing.

“We don’t normally have press conferences for this type of incident, but we do, of course, share the information as widely as possible.”

Minimum vs. maximum security

The Saskatchewan Penitentiary has three different levels of security: maximum, medium and minimum.

In the minimum security unit, the inmates live in what is described by the CSC on its website as residential houses.

Campbell said maximum security is defined by having a more extensive means of security. He said the idea behind this is that the offenders there are rated as higher risk. There are wired fences, for example around the maximum security areas.

But with minimum security, Campbell said the idea is to give offenders a sense of responsibility, to re-integrate into society. He said the perimeter of that institution is “well defined and all the offenders there would know where the areas that are in-bounds and out-of-bounds are.

“However, it’s not specifically defined by a fence. But they understand where the edge of the property is that they’re allowed to access and where they are not.”

As for how much of a risk Sheets could pose to the public, Campbell said he is rated minimum security, “so [he is] considered to be a low risk to public safety. But of course, as we’ve noted in our information that we’ve provided, that he is serving a sentence for second-degree murder, so we want to make sure that people are aware and if they do have any information on his whereabouts, that they contact the local police.”

Sheets’ sentence began on June 17, 1998, but due to the Privacy Act, Campbell was unable to provide information about how long the inmate had been at the Saskatchewan Penitentiary or how long he had been in minimum security.

Sheets is described as five feet, seven inches tall, 161 pounds, with a fair complexion, brown eyes and tattoos on both arms.

The Prince Albert Police Service has been liasing with the RCMP and all of its officers have been briefed about Sheets’ escape.

tjames@panow.com

On Twitter: @thiajames