By paNOW Staff

UPDATE: Fifth inmate charged with murder in 2016 penitentiary riot death

Jun 28, 2018 | 2:53 PM

UPDATE: A fifth man has now also been charged with second-degree murder and attempted murder in connection with Bird’s death, RCMP announced Friday morning.

RCMP said 27-year-old Sundance Okemaysim is facing the same charges as Campeau, Watetch, Burns, and McKay. He will make a court appearance in Prince Albert at a date to be determined later. 

The charges against him have not been tested before the courts. 

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A fourth inmate has been charged with murder in connection with a death which occurred during a riot at the Saskatchewan Penitentiary in Prince Albert.

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According to RCMP’s Major Crimes Unit North, 25-year-old Klaine Joseph Campeau, who was an inmate at the Saskatchewan Penitentiary on the date of the riot, Dec. 14, 2016, is now charged with second-degree murder and attempted murder. The charges mirror those laid earlier this month against Kelfort Wayne Watetch, 26, Brandon Wyatt Burns, 23, and Landon McKay, 21.

The deceased, 43-year-old Jason Leonard Bird, was located unresponsive in the medium-security unit of the penitentiary after the prison’s emergency response team entered the unit to quell the riot. In addition to Bird’s death, the riot saw eight inmates injured. Two were allegedly injured during the riot, which involved more than 180 inmates, and six more were hurt by shotgun fire when prison staff stormed the rioters’ improvised barricades.

Speaking to paNOW shortly after the riot, Guards’ Union Spokesperson James Bloomfield described the injuries inflicted by the rioters as “multiple, multiple stab wounds.”

Campeau will make his first court appearance in Prince Albert at a date to be determined later, RCMP said. The other three accused with appear next on July 11 in Prince Albert.

The charges against the four inmates have not been tested before the courts.

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On Twitter: @PrinceAlbertNOW