A riot at the Saskatchewan Penitentiary in Dec. 2016, resulted in one death, and two inmates sustaining critical injuries. (file photo/paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Prison riot

Penitentiary death case concludes with acquittals

Sep 21, 2020 | 5:41 PM

Two men charged in connection to a death that happened during a riot at the Saskatchewan Penitentiary in late 2016, have been cleared of any wrongdoing.

Landon McKay and Brandon Burns were found not guilty in the death of Jason Bird, as well as additional charges of attempted murder in the beating and stabbing of another inmate.

In December, 2016, Bird was located unresponsive in the medium security section of the penitentiary after the prison’s emergency response team entered the unit to quell the riot. According to the coroner’s report, Bird suffered blunt force trauma to the head, multiple stab wounds to his chest and back, and also had punctured lungs and internal bleeding.

In addition to Bird’s death, the riot saw eight inmates injured. Two were injured during the riot, which involved more than 180 inmates, and six more were hurt by shotgun fire when prison staff stormed the rioters’ improvised barricades. At the conclusion of a nearly two-week long trial at Prince Albert Court of Queen’s Bench, Justice B.J. Scherman said he could not find Burns and McKay guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, and explained the reliability of witness testimony raised too many concerns.

Photos of the damage caused during the riot in 2016. (file photo/paNOW Staff)

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Among the witnesses to testify during the trial was an inmate who said he was severely beaten.

While Crown Prosecutor John Morrall defended the testimony as reliable and “uncontradicted” Burns’s lawyer Blaine Beaven argued it was anything but. He pointed out that when the inmate awoke in hospital on Christmas Day (11 days later), he initially thought he was in a car accident, and had no idea he was in prison.

“He said he didn’t know he had a wife and six kids,” Beaven said.

The same man released his statement to police three months later, and Beaven said there was a lot of time for his story to be influenced by fellow inmates.

“That signifies a significant level of impairment,” Justice Scherman said.

Three other men were sentenced in relation to Bird’s death. Sundance Okeymasim entered a guilty plea to a charge of aggravated assault and received a two-year sentence. Klaine Campeau received a seven-and-a-half-year sentence for his role in the attack, and Kelfert Watech received a 10-year sentence to convictions of attempted murder and second-degree murder.

Outside the courthouse, Morrall told paNOW the case had many challenges, mainly the trouble of finding witnesses to testify.

“Given the fact that this case was around three and a half years old, obviously that presented some problems,” he said.

While Burns was being released from custody on Monday, McKay was returned to the Prince Albert Correctional Centre, where he is being held on remand for an unrelated matter.

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nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell