Inmate beaten to death during hour of unsupervised gym time, Manitoba inquest hears

An inquest into the killings of two Manitoba inmates continued in Winnipeg on Thursday with testimony from a security intelligence officer about the death of Durval David Tavares.

Tavares, 40, was found beaten to death in a Stony Mountain Institution bathroom in 2005, and three fellow inmates were later convicted in his death.

The inquest is now examining his killing and another inmate's killing a year later. In 2006, 30-year-old Sheldon McKay was strangled in his cell. Four fellow inmates were later convicted in his killing.

The inquest is trying to determine if staff failed to help the two men and whether anything can be done in the future to prevent similar killings.

Testimony on Wednesday revealed Tavares was a high-level member of the street gang Native Syndicate and was believed to be involved in the prison's drug trade.

Despite the gang and drug ties, his parole officer described him as having a good attitude and usually being in a good mood.

The inquest was also told Tavares talked a lot about family and wanting to go back to his home in Thunder Bay.

On Thursday, the inquest heard more about the circumstances surrounding Tavares' killing.

Tim Vanderhoek was a security intelligence officer at the prison when Tavares was killed and was responsible for investigating threats against inmates' safety.

'Unfortunate but unforeseen incident'

Vanderhoek said there was no indication Taveres' life was at risk.

"I had some dealings with [Tavares,]" said Vanderhoek. "I have no recollection of any threats to his safety ... It was an unfortunate but unforeseen incident — tragic in every way."

He said Tavares was the victim of internal punishment from his gang, and there was "very little" staff could have done differently or better to prevent his death.

Even if there were more cameras in the prison, Vanderhoek said, he thinks Tavares still would have been killed.

Vanderhoek echoed testimony from another corrections worker, Kirk McIntosh, who spoke at the inquest on Wednesday, saying the only way to prevent inmates from killing each other is to segregate each and every offender.

McIntosh testified about the killing of McKay a year after Tavares' death. McKay, a member of the Indian Posse street gang, was strangled in his cell.

McIntosh told the inquest if inmates wanted to kill another inmate, "It was going to get done."

Vanderhoek agreed.

'A lot of damage can be done ... in a short time'

Corrections officer Vincent Laroche testified about the evening Tavares was beaten to death.

Tavares belonged to a group of inmates called Crossroads, which consisted of Native Syndicate gang members.

• AUDIO: Corrections officer Vincent Laroche on evening Tavares was killed

They were given about an hour of unsupervised time in the rec hall on a regular basis — officers patrolled at the beginning and end of the hour, but inmates were otherwise unsupervised.

On the first patrol, Laroche told the inquest he saw some "wrestling," and Tavares broke up the scuffle.

"I understand their code of behaviour is they want to deal with things themselves," said Laroche. "They don't want to get correction officers involved."

When Laroche returned for second patrol, the inmates were filing out of the rec hall wearing jackets.

"It wasn't particularly cold out, [but] they had no shirts on. That later made sense to me," he said. "The inmates used their shirts to mop up the blood after the beating."

Laroche said the floor in the rec hall's vestibule looked dull, so officers went into the gym area, where they saw "bloody drag marks."

Tavares was at the end of those marks in a prison bathroom.

"His head was in a pool of blood," said Laroche.

A camera was later installed in the rec hall's vestibule and patrols of rec time were increased.

"We were told to be way more diligent," said Laroche. "We can't have anything too predictable for the inmates. The inmates are aware we do patrols at certain times."

Despite the changes, the rec hall isn't any safer today than it was in 2005, Laroche said. There are still no cameras in some areas, and the large washroom has no cameras.

Even if patrols were every 15 minutes, it still might not have been enough to save Tavares' life, he said.

"If a group of inmates, and in this case I believe there were four or five, a lot of damage can be done to a person in a short time," said Laroche.

Supervisors could better share information about conflicts with all officers, and officers should all be equipped with radios, he said.

Right now, there aren't enough radios for all officers, and if officers see something they want to call in, they can't, he said.

Corrections Canada opposes recommendation

Manitoba Justice made several recommendations following testimony on Thursday, including more daily "stand to counts," where inmates must stand up and be counted at regular intervals.

Other recommendations included improving lighting and improving staffing in the rec hall of Stony Mountain Institution.

The lawyer representing Corrections Canada opposed the recommendation for an added stand to count.

The judge overseeing the inquest will release his report in the next month or so.