Critics call for reforms as convicted killer freed

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This article was published 19/10/2011 (5485 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

PROVINCIAL corrections officials are looking at why a convicted killer being held on assault and probation violations was mistakenly released from Headingley Correctional Centre late last week.

The release of Walter Sanderson — city police issued a public notification about him on Monday as soon as officers learned he was freed — is the latest in what the Opposition Progressive Conservatives call a broken jail system.

Sanderson is the 20th inmate known to be wrongly released from a provincial jail since 2007.

But his violent past has critics sounding the alarm that the province has to do more to stop the inadvertent release of known offenders.

“The fact that we have violent offenders being released is clearly a public-safety issue and ultimately that falls to the attorney general to get that problem solved,” PC justice critic Kelvin Goertzen said Tuesday. “It’s only a matter of time if this continues until we have a violent offender who is accidently released and then purposely goes out and hurts somebody.”

Sanderson was sentenced in 2004 to 91/2 years for his part in the Nov. 2, 2002 beating death of a 46-year-old crack cocaine dealer in the basement of a Kate Street residence.

At his sentencing, court was told Sanderson and another man tied the victim up with an electrical cord and smashed a stereo speaker over his head, and then beat him to death with a snow shovel and curtain rod. The victim, Guy Joseph Pouliot, died when his skull was cracked open. A pathologist found 100 different injuries to his head and upper body.

Sanderson, 28, had completed his sentence for manslaughter and had been arrested on new charges, which have not been proven in court, when he was mistakenly released.

Details of why he was released in error are unknown, but a Manitoba Justice spokesman said it likely involves a communications breakdown between the courts and corrections officials.

“The department is currently doing a complete review of this matter so that anything learned from it can be incorporated in departmental processes to prevent future releases in error,” the spokesman said. “While procedures such as double-check systems are in place to protect against human error, mistakes do sometimes occur.”

Managing an offender’s legal file is sometimes a complex process because it’s not uncommon for that person to be in custody on criminal charges while having bail granted on others. Plus, an offender in custody can have new criminal charges laid against them while older charges are dropped.

In other cases, an individual may have charges dealt with in provincial court and others in the Court of Queen’s Bench with court appearances scheduled in Winnipeg and others in a rural court, creating a lot of paperwork to for court and corrections staff to keep track.

“For the most part, accidental releases result from a unique set of circumstances in complex cases combined with human error,” the spokesman said. “On the issue overall, additional court staff have been added and additional training has been implemented in an effort to reduce the risk of accidental releases, and the department is constantly seeking ways to reduce the risks in this area.”

Police first charged Sanderson Oct. 5 on assault and probation violations and was being held in custody, but was somehow let go.

Winnipeg Police Service spokesman Const. Jason Michalyshen said as soon as police found out he had been released, a press release was sent out in the hope it would speed up his capture.

Police warn the public not to approach Sanderson, but ask anyone with information about him to call 986-6222. He is described as aboriginal, 5-9, 200 pounds, with muscular build, black hair and brown eyes.

“The reason for his release, that is not a police matter,” Michalyshen said.

In May, Attorney General Andrew Swan said he had asked his staff to have someone from another province to examine how Manitoba tracks its inmates to cut down on accidental releases.

“As long as there has been jails in Manitoba, wrongful releases have occurred,” Swan said at the time.

Goertzen said there should be full public notification when someone is wrongly released from a provincial jail.

bruce.owen@freeepress.mb.ca