A coroner’s inquest jury has heard testimony that a 19-year-old murder suspect was not checked on once on the night he died.
John Bob Glen Custer committed suicide at the Prince Albert Correctional Centre in 2013.
An inquest into his death is taking place in Prince Albert.
Guards at the correctional centre are responsible for hourly checks on inmates while on night shift.
Chris Bosch and Gavin Jutras were assigned to Custer’s unit on the night he died.
Both guards testified they did not do a single check that night and pre-filled a log sheet saying they had done so.
The guards say these checks typically take three to four minutes to complete.
They testified it is a common practice for some guards at the facility to only do some of their hourly checks or, in this case, none at all.
Dr. Nico Brits performed the autopsy on Custer and he says the inmate was dead three to five hours before he was discovered.
Custer’s body was not found until the next morning when a guard came in relief of the night shift.
Allen Stubbs, the Director of the Prince Albert Correctional Centre, says the two guards responsible Custer on the night he died “Simply didn’t do their jobs.”
Tubbs says both Bosch and Jutras are no longer employed at the PACC.
Custer had been remanded at the facility on a second-degree murder charge in November, 2013 following the strangulation death of 40-year-old Heather Ballantyne, whose body was found just outside Pelican Narrows.
The purpose of the inquest is to allow a jury to hear all the evidence around his death in order to make recommendations to help prevent similar deaths in the future.
The jury is expected to make their recommendations tomorrow.