Murderer slashed another inmate, court told

Man convicted in 1999 of killing a security guard denied transfer to minimum security prison

A man who stabbed a Prince George security guard to death and is serving a life sentence for murder has allegedly slashed an inmate in prison, according to a recent court ruling.

The inmate assault allegation against Gerry Joseph Leiding was revealed in a ruling that dismissed his challenge to a decision by corrections officials to transfer him to a medium-security prison.

Court heard that Leiding, who was convicted of the January 1999 second-degree murder of Dale Statham and sentenced to life with no parole for 15 years, began serving his sentence at the Mission Institution medium-security federal prison.

He was eventually transferred to the William Head Institution, a minimum-security prison on Vancouver Island, which is near his former home.

But he was moved back to Mission in December 2015 when his inability or unwillingness to manage his emotions resulted in numerous staff interventions and corrections staff found unauthorized items in his room.

In September 2016, Leiding applied for a transfer back to William Head. A review by correctional staff rated him a medium security inmate, but his case-management team was supportive of the transfer.

In November 2016, the warden of Mission agreed to approve the transfer, but the transfer was stopped when Leiding allegedly used an X-Acto knife to assault another inmate at Mission.

A hearing held in January resulted in the warden issuing a decision that Leiding’s security classification would be maintained at medium.

In a lawsuit filed in B.C. Supreme Court, Leiding complained that he was denied procedural fairness and was not told when and where the alleged slashing occurred and did not receive any corroborative evidence.

The warden told the court that the offender had received all of the relevant available information except the identity of a source only referred to as Source A.

In his ruling in the case, B.C. Supreme Court Justice George Macintosh said that despite the able submissions of Leiding’s lawyer, his application for a transfer back to William Head could not be approved.

“All the information relied upon by the warden in reaching her decision was provided by Mr. Leiding prior to the hearing. He had been told of the alleged slashing and who the alleged victim was.”

Leiding also received information that the victim of his alleged slashing had recanted his complaint against Leiding, noted the judge.

“The warden, in reaching her decision, was entitled to draw upon her judgment and experience, obtained from her work, in maintaining a classification of medium risk for Mr. Leiding,” said the judge. “The evidence included that which was given by Source A and in addition, evidence that correctional staff saw the injuries on the victim’s abdomen.”

The jury at Leiding’s murder trial heard that he and a friend had stolen a vehicle in Vanderhoof and were at a motel in Prince George the next morning to look for another vehicle to steal when Statham, a security guard at the motel, approached Leiding’s friend in the stolen vehicle.

When Leiding, then 24 years old, returned, Statham tried to take him to a nearby store to call police, but during a fight, Statham was stabbed 19 times by Leiding. Witnesses said that the victim begged for his life during the fatal assault, saying, “Stop, I have kids. Don’t do this.”

The ruling was posted at the court’s website Tuesday, but given out orally by the judge in July.

“The warden, in reaching her decision, was entitled to draw upon her judgment and experience ...” — Justice George Macintosh