Tyler Vandewater, convicted of second-degree murder, leaving court. (Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Murder trial

Tyler Vandewater convicted of murdering cellmate at Sask. Pen

Mar 5, 2020 | 2:24 PM

A man who stabbed his former cellmate over 60 times, has been found guilty of second degree murder and now faces a minimum sentence of life in prison with no parole for 10 years.

Tyler Vandewater said nothing as the verdict was read Thursday morning at Prince Albert Court of Queen’s Bench. The 31-year-old was charged following the June, 7, 2017 death of Chris Van Camp at Saskatchewan Penitentiary. Van Camp’s mother Lauren Laithwaite wiped away tears after hearing the verdict.

“There are no winners here, just loss on both sides,” she told reporters outside of court.

During his testimony, Vandewater said he acted in self-defence and described Van Camp as paranoid and agitated, expressing fears others were “plotting against him.” Vandewater also claimed Van Camp initiated the fight, despite their friendship.

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Laithwaite was asked by paNOW if she would ever accept an apology from Vandewater.

“I would love that,” she said. “The best thing that can happen for me is he gets rehabilitated and that he is able at some point to be paroled because of his changed behaviour because of having empathy and compassion.”

When explaining his decision, Justice Brian Scherman said the argument for self-defence rested on three key points, and the onus was on the Crown to show only one did not stand up.

The first point was whether Vandewater believed force was being threatened against him. Sherman said based on the pair’s previous history, he did not believe Van Camp would have openly attacked his cellmate, but rather would have more likely looked to him for support, to “have his back.”

On the second point whether there were signs Vandewater had tried to protect himself, Scherman pointed to the lack of offensive injuries shown in Van Camp’s autopsy report, as well as the lack of injuries on Vandewater beyond a few scrapes on his mid section.

“His actions were not reasonable,” Scherman concluded.

Finally on the third point on whether Vandewater used reasonable force, Scherman said he did not think so and described the assault on Van Camp as “gratuitous” and “unrestrained.”

Scherman also said he found the credibility of Vandewater’s whole testimony to be concerning and unreliable given the fact Vandewater himself admitted in court he was “given permission” to testify from a high-ranking member of his gang on the unit. Scherman also said if Van Camp was paranoid as Vandewater claimed, he would have likely expressed those feelings to correctional officers upon his intake on June 6, which he did not.

“The reason why Van Camp was killed will never be known,” Scherman said.

The sentencing hearing has now been adjourned to June 5, 2020. In addition to discussing Vandewater’s parole eligibility, victim impact statements will also be read on that day.

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nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell