Man who killed 3 Moncton Mounties on trial for alleged prison assault

A trial for an alleged prison assault began Wednesday in New Brunswick for a man who killed three Mounties in Moncton in 2014.

Justin Christen Bourque, 35, is being tried in Miramichi provincial court on two charges. It's alleged he committed aggravated assault by wounding Chase Spence and had a shank, a homemade weapon, on May 3, 2022, at the Atlantic Institution. 

Bourque is serving life sentences at the maximum-security prison in Renous, about 30 kilometres southwest of Miramichi.

Bourque is being tried alongside Christian Enang Clyke of Halifax.

Correctional officers at the prison testified about seeing Bourque and Clyke appear to stab Chase near a common room around 1:30 p.m. moments after Spence was moved into the unit with them.

Keitha Keating, an acting security intelligence officer who works at the prison, testified about retrieving surveillance of the alleged assault. 

The video shows Spence walking into a hall holding bags of his belongings followed by Bourque. Spence appears to look in several cells before walking back toward Bourque. The two appear to exchange words. The video doesn't include any audio. It then shows Spence step back and then appear to punch at Bourque's neck.

Bourque pulled his hands from his pockets, with Keating testifying he appeared to be holding a shank. Spence then reaches into his waistband. Keating said it was later determined he also had a weapon.

Clyke and other inmates walked into the hall as the fight continued. Spence threw a bag at Bourque and ran past the other inmates. Keating said it appeared in the video that Clyke and Bourque had weapons. 

Spence ran to an area closer to a control station, where a correctional officer was posted, and fell to the floor as Clyke closed in on him. Bourque followed, though what transpired is largely out of frame in the video. 

Shortly after, Clyke and Bourque walk away, with blood falling from Clyke's arm. Another angle showed Clyke taking off his shirt to wrap a wound. 

The video shown to Judge Johanne-Marguerite Landry shows Bourque go to where Keating said there's a sink in the common room, and then returning to the hallway with the cell doors, where Keating said he appears to put something under a cell door. Spence got up and walked toward a door, also leaving a trail of blood.

Michael Simon, a correctional officer in the control point near where the incident happened, testified he saw both Clyke and Bourque with shanks stabbing Spence while he was on the floor. 

Simon testified he used pepper spray to try to halt the fight, and when they continued, he grabbed a C8 rifle. He said he ordered them to stop and the fight ended. 

Other officers testified about removing Spence from the unit and seeing what appeared to be stab wounds on his neck or back. 

He was sent to hospital for treatment and survived. Spence's hospital records were entered as an exhibit, but the details of what the records say were not mentioned in court. 

Spence didn't testify in the trial. RCMP Const. Charles Bougie testified that none of the three inmates provided statements to police about the events during the investigation.

Keating said all three had weapons that were seized. While she brought them to court, they were not entered as exhibits for the trial. 

Cross-examination of witnesses by Bourque's lawyer, Simon Wood, focused on who appeared to start the fight and whether Spence was checked for weapons before being moved into the unit. 

Keating testified Spence appeared to start the fight, and other witnesses testified that they believed others would be responsible for searching him for weapons.

Clyke, who is self-represented, asked no cross-examination questions. 

Trial continues Thursday

Six witnesses testified Wednesday, with the Crown saying it had finished calling witnesses just before 4 p.m. Wednesday.

Wood said they will take the evening to decide if Bourque will testify in his own defence Thursday when the trial resumes. 

While the alleged assault was in May 2022, the charges against Clyke and Bourque were only laid in November 2023. 

Bourque is serving life sentences for fatally shooting RCMP constables Dave Ross, Fabrice Gevaudan and Douglas Larche, and wounding constables Darlene Goguen and Eric Dubois in Moncton on June 4, 2014.