Family of murdered Vancouver Island man suing prison officials over inmates' escape
The daughters of a 60-year-old Vancouver Island man who was found dead in his home in 2019 are suing the Correctional Service of Canada, claiming negligent prison officials allowed two men to escape from a minimum-security penitentiary and murder their father.
Police found Martin Payne dead in his rural Metchosin, B.C., home on July 12, 2019, after the mail courier failed to show up for work.
Five days earlier, two federal inmates – Zachary Armitage and James Lee Busch – escaped from the nearby William Head Institution, triggering a two-day manhunt that ended when the pair unwittingly struck up a conversation with an off-duty RCMP homicide detective, who recognized the escapees and immediately called police.
Payne's red Ford F-150 pickup truck had been found hours earlier, abandoned on Woodburn Avenue in Oak Bay, B.C.
Multiple police agencies, led by the Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Unit, investigated Payne's death for nearly a year before both inmates were charged with first-degree murder.
VIOLENT CRIMINAL HISTORIES
Calla and Jessica Payne, the slain man's daughters, have now filed a civil suit in B.C. Supreme Court, seeking unspecified damages from the correctional service and the wardens of William Head and Mission Institution, the medium-security prison where the men were held prior to their transfer to the island.
The daughters allege that on the night of the escape, Armitage and Busch walked around a prison fence along the shoreline at low tide, passing by an empty guard tower and out into the community.
Prison officials did not discover the men were missing until a routine head count more than four hours later, according to the suit.
Armitage and Busch, who both had violent criminal histories prior to their escape, had been reclassified from "medium" and "high" security risk levels to "low" risk, due to system overrides by corrections officials, the daughters allege.
The reclassification allowed the inmates to be transferred from Mission Institution in the Fraser Valley to the minimum-security island prison.
"The reclassifications of the inmates to a low security level and their subsequent transfer to William Head were the result of operational decisions made by CSC and its employees that were negligent, reckless and contrary to CSC policy," according to the suit.
"Mr. Payne lived less than eight kilometers from William Head, which distance could be covered in approximately one and a half hours by foot," the civil claim says. "Accordingly, Mr. Payne was part of a discrete category of people who lived near to William Head and who might be harmed by inmates escaping that institution."
'UTTERLY DEVASTATED'
Busch, who was 42 years old at the time of the escape, was serving an indeterminate sentence for second-degree murder and assault, and was also serving time for aggravated sexual assault and a previous escape from custody.
Armitage, who was 30 years old and had also previously escaped from custody, was serving a nearly 14-year sentence for robbery, aggravated assault and other offences.
"It was a direct and foreseeable consequence of CSC's breach of the standard of care that the inmates escaped from William Head Institution and fatally assaulted Mr. Payne," according to the suit.
In a statement to CTV News on Monday, daughter Jessica Payne said, in part, "it goes without saying that we have been utterly devastated by the loss of our father, a gentle, kind, and hilarious man."
"The realization that he can no longer be a fixture in our lives, offering us guidance, care, and support continues to hit us with as much force as it did three years ago as we struggle to overcome the impacts that his murder has had on us and our family members," she added.
"The horrific and unexpected nature of his death has left us deeply disturbed and has forced us to question the commitment to public safety of our justice system. We feel that irreversible mistakes and breaches of policy were made by Corrections Services Canada, without which, our father would still be here with us today."
'INMATES ALLOWED TO WALK OUT OF CUSTODY'
Neil Chantler, the lawyer representing the daughters, said corrections officials put public safety at risk by transferring the inmates to William Head.
"These inmates were allowed to walk out of custody and into the community in broad daylight," Chantler said in a statement Monday.
"Their absence was not detected for several hours. Their placement at William Head raises important questions about how an inmate's security level is assessed, and when reclassification to a lower security level is appropriate. There appear to be gaping cracks in the system that created the preconditions for this tragedy to occur."
The civil claim says the daughters have "suffered loss and damage, including loss of financial support, loss of inheritance, and loss of guidance, care and companionship," as well as "grievous psychological harm, including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress and anguish" as a result of their father's death.
The daughters are seeking general, special, aggravated and punitive damages, as well as damages under B.C.'s Family Compensation Act, which allows family members to sue for damages in the event of a death resulting from negligence or wrongful act.
In the wake of the 2019 escape, the Correctional Service of Canada launched a review of every inmate in minimum-security custody across the country. The review led to the reclassification of 14 minimum-security offenders who were subsequently moved to medium-security prisons.
Nine of the 14 inmates who the correctional service found to be misclassified were at William Head, including Armitage and Busch.
The Correctional Service of Canada did not immediately respond to a request for comment on this story.
Armitage and Busch are scheduled to be tried for Payne's murder this fall in Vancouver.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Spectacular aurora light show to be seen across Canada Friday night
A rare and severe solar storm is expected to bring spectacular displays of the northern lights, also known as aurora borealis, across much of Canada and parts of the United States on Friday night.
Town of Fort Nelson, B.C., ordered to evacuate due to wildfire
The entire town of Fort Nelson, B.C., as well as the nearby Fort Nelson First Nation, has been ordered to evacuate due to an out-of-control wildfire.
Bouchard lifts Edmonton Oilers to 4-3 overtime win over Canucks in Game 2
Evan Bouchard scored 5:38 into overtime and the Edmonton Oilers bounced back for a 4-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs on Friday.
McGill University seeks emergency injunction to dismantle pro-Palestinian encampment
McGill University has filed a request for an injunction to have the pro-Palestinian encampment removed from its campus.
Which Canadian cities have the highest and lowest grocery prices?
Where you live plays a big factor in what you pay at the grocery store. And while it's no secret the same item may have a different price depending on the store, city or province, we wanted to see just how big the differences are, and why.
Swarm of 20,000 bees gather around woman’s car west of Toronto
A swarm of roughly 20,000 bees gathered around a woman’s car in the parking lot of Burlington Centre.
Video shows naked raccoon catching B.C. family by surprise
When Marvin Henschel spotted a strange and hairless creature wandering through a front lawn in B.C.'s Lower Mainland, he could barely believe his eyes.
Barron Trump declines to serve as an RNC delegate
Former U.S. President Donald Trump's youngest son, Barron Trump, has declined to serve as a delegate at this summer’s Republican National Convention, according to a senior Trump campaign adviser and a statement from Melania Trump's office.
Out-of-control wildfire prompts evacuation alert for Fort McMurray, Saprae Creek Estates Friday night
An evacuation alert was issued for two Wood Buffalo communities Friday night, as crews battled an out-of-control wildfire near Fort McMurray.