(File photo/ paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Prison death

Prison death trial: deceased’s mother points finger at system

Jan 27, 2020 | 5:18 PM

Lauren Laithwaite sat calmly in a Prince Albert courtroom Monday, listening intently as the trial for Tyler Vandewater officially began at Prince Albert Court of Queen’s Bench.

Vandewater, 31, is facing a charge of second-degree murder in connection to the June 2017 death of Laithwaite’s son Christopher Van Camp at the Saskatchewan Penitentiary. The two men were cellmates.

At the beginning of proceedings, defence lawyer Brian Pfefferle told Justice B.J. Scherman this was not a case of “whodunit” but rather one of self-defence.

Outside the courthouse, Laithwaite, who has filed a lawsuit against the Correctional Services of Canada (CSC) and the Attorney General of Canada for her son’s death, denied any possibility her son started a fight.

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“We will see it as a rage killing and there’s no way my son instigated anything,” she said, adding Van Camp should never have been in that cell in the first place.

At the time of his death, Van Camp had been back at the prison less than 24 hours, after breaching his parole conditions.

Van Camp was released on parole last April after serving two thirds of a five-year sentence related to robbery, break and enter, fraud and theft. One of his release conditions was abstaining from drugs and alcohol.

Lathwaite said when her son was released from prison, he was an addict, but tried to turn his life around. Prior to returning to jail, Lathwaite said Van Camp was taking classes at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) to become a crane operator.

Despite the effort, Lathwaite said Van Camp was consumed by his addiction and overdosed within a month of his parole release.

“My son was doing drugs in prison, Drugs were available to him and that’s why he came out an addict and not surprisingly he overdosed within a month of being out,” Laithwaite said.

The overdose put Van Camp into a five-day coma and once he recovered, he was arrested for breaching his parole conditions.

“I was hugging him, kissing him, and he asked why I was crying. I said ‘I just love you so much and I’m sorry’ and that was the last time I spoke to him,” she said.

The testimony

Three weeks are set aside for Vandewater’s trial but Pfefferle hinted less than seven days may be needed.

The first witness on the stand was Correctional Officer Robert Nye, who has worked at the prison for over 17 years, and knew both the accused and the victim through his career. Nye also helped handle the arrangements for Van Camp’s return.

He said prior to Van Camp’s release, he was Vandewater’s cellmate for a “significant period of time,” and upon Van Camp’s return, it seemed logical to put the two men back together. Nye said when Van Camp entered the cell, there was no suggestion of any tension between the two of them.

“They appeared happy to see each other. They were ‘bro-ing it up,” he said.

Nye testified Van Camp appeared to have lost weight during his time in the community, but did not appear to take any offence when Vandewater teased him about it.

Nye was asked by Crown Prosecutor Linh Lê to explain the re-entry process for Van Camp.

Nye said both men signed off a form agreeing to cohabitate and the staff did a thorough check of previous incidents of violence. Nye reiterated there was nothing to suggest in this case the two men would not get along, adding if anyone objected to the arrangement, he or a fellow corrections officer would switch out the cellmates.

Lê showed Nye photos of the two mattresses inside the cell where Van Camp’s body was found. A photo showing a blood-stained mattress, was identified by Nye as not the “newer mattress” he gave Van Camp the day he returned. A photo of a plastic-wrapped mattress, on the top bunk, was also shown to the court.

Pfefferle’s cross examination of Nye was short but one of the points he touched on was the topic of double-bunking. Pfefferly asked Nye if he was aware of any issues related to double-bunking, and Nye confirmed the practice was a source of increased hostility between cellmates.

“As far as I’m aware, there are no more double bunks at the max unit,” Nye said.

When asked how the institution decides which inmate gets which bunk, Nye said there is no protocol for that, adding it’s up to the inmates to sort that out.

Pfefferle also asked Nye about Van Camp’s condition when he returned to the prison. Nye said he could not recall if Van Camp received any sort of medical assessment.

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nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell