North Fraser inmate killed, man charged
Guards want more funding to deal with gang violence behind bars
Another prisoner in a B.C. jail has been killed in a gang-linked attack.
Neil Leslie died in hospital after he was beaten in a living unit at North Fraser Pretrial Centre on April 17.
Another prisoner, Zachariah Pakarinen, 27, has been charged with aggravated assault in the attack.
Sgt. Stephanie Ashton, of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, said Friday other charges are being considered against Pakarinen, who remains in custody.
She said Coquitlam Mounties were called to North Fraser just after noon last Sunday when “staff reported an incident between two inmates.”
Leslie was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries and died April 22.
“At this point, investigators con- tinue to gather evidence of the assault,” Ashton said.
Leslie, 40, had a long criminal history with convictions for robbery, forcible entry, theft under $5,000 and many breaches of court-ordered conditions.
Pakarinen has a series of similar convictions across the Lower Mainland — break and enter, theft, assault, dangerous driving. He was identified by Coquitlam RCMP last fall as a prolific offender suspected in a number of home break and enters during which he would wear a construction vest and hard hat.
The Vancouver Sun has learned that Pakarinen may have been attacked first before the fatal beating.
It is just the latest fatality in escalating violence in B.C. correctional facilities.
In February, Adam Palsson, 27, was beaten to death at the Fraser Regional Correctional Centre where he was serving a 13-month sentence for stealing a car and driving dangerously. No one has been charged in Palsson’s death and Ashford said Friday there is no update in the case.
The union representing jail guards says the government needs to invest more in keeping both inmates and workers safe.
Dean Purdy, of the B.C. Government and Service Employees Union, said while Premier Christy Clark just announced $23 million more to fight gang violence on the streets, nothing has been committed to tackling the resulting violence inside B.C. jails.
“From our standpoint, there have been many targeted hits from gang inmates inside our jails and this is a real serious concern for us,” Purdy said.
He said when more gangsters are arrested as a result of the crackdown, “there will be the increase in gang activity and violence inside our jails.”
B.C. jails are operating at 140 per cent of capacity, Purdy said.
“And the inmate-on-inmate violence levels have risen by 42 per cent between 2014 and 2015 and assaults on correctional officers have risen by 39 per cent in the same time,” he said.
Purdy said the BCGEU has had a hard time getting information from the government about gangrelated inmates who are jailed. The government told the union in a 2011 letter that B.C. Corrections “does not maintain statistical data that tracks the growth of gang activity in provincial jails.
“This is particularly concerning for us given the high influx of gangaffiliated inmates in our system,” Purdy said. “Since then, we have continually requested stats on gang-affiliated inmates in letters to the minister, joint union-management meetings and meetings at the ministry level.”
B.C. Corrections official Cindy Rose offered condolences to Leslie’s family in an emailed statement.
“In addition to the investigation by the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team and B.C. Coroners Service, a critical incident review by B.C. Corrections is now underway. Through this process, we will be looking at the circumstances of this incident to determine if there are ways to prevent a similar, future occurrence,” the statement said.
“Ongoing risk assessments, which help to guide decisions about inmate placement, reflect our commitment to take every precaution to ensure inmates’ safety. Security measures, building designs and staffing models also contribute to safe management of inmates and protecting our staff – critical considerations given the violent, criminal histories of many in our custody.”