Justin Bourque found guilty of aggravated assault in N.B. prison

Justin Bourque, who killed three Mounties in 2014, has been found guilty of assault in a New Brunswick prison.

The man who shot and killed three RCMP officers and wounded two more in Moncton, N.B., in June 2014 was found guilty of aggravated assault on Wednesday.

Justin Bourque and Christian Enang Clyke, the co-accused, were found guilty of aggravated assault and possession of a weapon with the purpose of committing an offence after an incident at the Atlantic Institution in Renous on May 3, 2022.

Both men appeared in Miramichi provincial court Wednesday morning.

Judge Johanne-Marguerite Landry reviewed the details of the incident that involved a third inmate before announcing her decision that Bourque and Clyke were guilty.

Landry reviewed the details of an attack on inmate Chase Spence in May 2022, saying that both Bourque and Clyke used shanks, or weapons made inside the prison, to assault Spence.

“They had the upper hand,” said Landry.

During a trial in May, the court heard evidence from six crown witnesses.

The court also heard evidence from Clyke, but Bourque did not testify.

Spence did not testify either.

Court documents state Bourque and Clyke were beating the victim in the laundry room and repeatedly hitting him on the head.

Spence was pinned to the ground and gas was fired from the prison’s control room to get control of the situation.

Landry said a guard threatened to use a carbine if the two men did not stop the assault.

The victim needed medical attention for stab wounds to the neck and chest.

“Mr. Clyke maintains he acted in self defence,” said Landry, but added she didn’t see any evidence to support that claim.

Medical records of the victim and video footage from the maximum security penitentiary were used as evidence during the trial this spring.

Bourque is serving life sentences at Renous for the June 4, 2014, murders of Constables Doug Larche, Fabrice Gevaudan and Dave Ross.

He also shot and wounded Cst. Eric Dubois and Cst. Darlene Goguen on the same night during a shooting rampage in a northwest Moncton neighbourhood.

In August, Clyke was found guilty in the death of an inmate at Renous and is scheduled to return to Miramichi provincial court on Oct. 28 for his sentencing.

Bourque will be sentenced for the assault and weapons charges on Sept. 24 via a video call while Clyke will be sentenced in person on Oct. 23.

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