A man serving a life sentence for murdering his sister has escaped from the Collins Bay Institution in Kingston. Mason Jenkins, 49, was reported missing from the minimum-security unit on Sept. 24. According to Correctional Service Canada, he was nowhere to be found when staff conducted a formal inmate count. A Canada-wide warrant has been issued for his arrest. Jenkins was described as white, 5′9″ (175cm) and 255 lbs. (116kg), with brown eyes and a shaved head. He grew up in Chatham but was also known to frequent Kitchener. Murder of Jennifer Jenkins Jenkins discussed his case in “Life with Murder,” a documentary that aired on CTV in 2010. The film looked at the complicated relationship between Jenkins and his parents, Brian and Leslie Jenkins. In January 1998, Jennifer Jenkins was shot multiple times in the head and chest by her 20-year-old brother. She was only 18 years old at the time. Mason Jenkins initially denied responsibility for the crime. When he eventually admitted to shooting Jennifer, he claimed it was an accident which he tried to cover up. “It should have been me,” Mason Jenkins said in a prison interview, shown in “Life with Murder.” He added: “She never did anything to anyone. She had her whole life ahead of her.” Brian and Leslie were initially skeptical about Mason’s guilt. “I just can’t imagine he would actually hurt Jennifer,” Leslie said in a police interview included in the documentary. “I’m not defending this, but he has no record,” Brian told police. “No record of violence, no problem with Jen.” He was then shown a fake will, which listed Mason Jenkins as the main beneficiary. Police believed money was the motive for Jennifer’s murder and Mason Jenkins also intended to kill his parents. In “Life with Murder,” the inmate admitted he had planned the deaths of Brian and Leslie. Jenkins was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to a 25-year prison term. His parents refused to cut ties with their son. “You don’t have your children to throw away, he is always going to be our child,” Leslie said in a 2010 interview with CTV News. “No way to take that back, nor would I want to take that back.” The couple described their decision to support their son, and the devastating impact it had on their lives, in the documentary. “She was a very loving girl, and she loved her brother,” Leslie told CTV News. “I don’t think she’d like to see her family fall apart, torn apart by hatred, forever in limbo,” With files from CTV News Toronto
