82-year-old inmate who died in B.C. prison told parole board he didn’t want to be released

The Matsqui Institution, a medium-security federal men's prison on the grounds of the Pacific Institution, is seen in Abbotsford, B.C., on Thursday October 26, 2017. (Darryl Dyck / The Canadian Press)

An 82-year-old inmate who died in custody in a federal prison in B.C.’s Fraser Valley last week had no desire to return to the outside world after nearly 40 years behind bars, according to parole documents obtained by CTV News.

James Talbot died at the Pacific Institution and Regional Treatment Centre in Abbotsford on July 23, the Correctional Service of Canada said in a news release last week.

The CSC said Talbot died “following an illness,” and that he had been serving a life sentence since March of 1986.

According to the Parole Board of Canada’s most recent decision denying him full parole, Talbot’s sentence was for second-degree murder. His parole ineligibility period was set at 12 years.

“In January 1985, you attended a police station and admitted to murdering your common-law wife,” the 2022 parole board decision reads, addressing the offender directly.

“In the week leading up to the offence, you had been fighting with the victim about her desire to

end the relationship. You were consuming alcohol and drugs. On the morning of the offence, you were still arguing about the victim’s desire to leave you and you ended up fatally stabbing her."

The parole document does not specify where the murder occurred.

Talbot had a difficult childhood, regularly witnessing “emotional instability and physical violence,” according to the parole decision. He and his sibling were “apprehended by the Children’s Aid Society” when he was 12 after his caregivers were convicted of “prostitution and living off the avails,” and he suffered abandonment issues.

As an adult, Talbot had three intimate relationships and was “possessive, jealous and abusive” in all of them. He had four children, two with each of his first two partners, but the parole document indicates he was no longer in contact with any of his remaining family and did not wish to reconnect with them.

In prison, Talbot completed a variety of programs, including a four-year apprenticeship in the auto shop, according to the decision. While he was involved in some “mostly minor infractions” during his incarceration from 1989 through 2010, he had been “incident- and charge-free” for 12 years at the time of the parole board’s last evaluation of him.

He told a psychologist that he wished to die in prison, according to the document.

“You have no support network from family or friends within the community,” the decision reads. “You would prefer to remain incarcerated as you like your job, have friends, and feel comfortable. You refuse to transfer to a minimum-security facility or commit to a release plan.”

While Talbot had completed “numerous” escorted temporary absences from prison without any issues, the lack of a release plan and the inmate’s apparent unwillingness to take transitional steps toward reintegrating into society left the board concerned he would pose an undue risk if he were granted full parole.

“The board is concerned that you appear to accept your current situation and are not pursuing a release,” the decision reads.

“This is likely due, in the board’s view, to the effects of prolonged institutionalization. Your lack of interest and passive resistance to a transfer to lower security and/or conditional release, suggests that you may not be ready to take on the challenge of reintegration at this time.”

The board denied parole.

The CSC said Talbot’s next of kin have been notified of his death. As in all cases involving in-custody deaths at CSC facilities, a review of the circumstances of Talbot’s death is underway and the B.C. Coroners Service has been notified.