40-year-old convicted killer dies after less than a year in B.C. prison

Sarah Foord, 38, was reported missing by family on July 10, 2020. Her remains were later found near Fort St. John, B.C. (Handout)

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A convicted killer has died in B.C.’s only maximum security federal prison, less than a year after his sentence began.

John Wendell Keyler died in custody Thursday, according to a news release from the Correctional Service of Canada. The 40-year-old was an inmate at Kent Institution in Agassiz at the time of his death.

Authorities did not specify the cause of Keyler’s death, which is typical in instances when an inmate dies in custody. However, when an in-custody death is believed to be of “natural causes,” the CSC usually specifies as much.

At the time of his death, Keyler was serving a sentence of four years, 10 months and 29 days that began less than a year ago, on Dec. 12, 2024.

While the CSC did not specify the crime that led to his sentence in its release, CTV News has previously reported on his case.

Keyler was convicted of manslaughter and indignity to human remains in January 2023. He had been charged with murdering his girlfriend Sarah Foord, but B.C. Supreme Court Justice James W. Williams found that the Crown had not proven the murder charge beyond a reasonable doubt.

The killing occurred on July 7, 2020. At the time, Keyler and Foord had been in a relationship for roughly 16 months, and were living together in Foord’s mobile home in Taylor, B.C., south of Fort St. John.

The homicide occurred in the bathroom, where Keyler stabbed Foord with a “multitool,” Williams wrote in his decision. After she died, Keyler drove to “a gas well-site” near Buick Creek, north of Fort St. John, buried her body, and threw the multitool into a nearby body of water.

Foord’s family reported her missing on July 10, 2020, and the B.C. RCMP’s North District Major Crime Unit soon became involved in the case.

In an interview with Mounties on July 21 of that year, Keyler confessed to stabbing Foord and directed police to the location where her body was buried, according to the decision.

An autopsy concluded that Foord had been stabbed approximately 50 times, though many of the wounds were “very superficial.” Two more-significant stab wounds were determined to be the cause of her death.

Keyler pleaded not guilty to murder, arguing that he was “in a state of significant intoxication by alcohol and drugs,” which caused a psychotic state, leaving him incapable of fully understanding what was happening or the possible consequences.

He told the court he experienced paranoia as a result of his alleged drug-induced psychosis and believed he was going to be attacked. He said he also thought that Foord was involved in a plot to “set him up,” and that he pulled her into the bathtub with him out of a belief that having her nearby would keep him safe.

Williams had no trouble concluding that Keyler was responsible for Foord’s death, but found there was a “reasonable possibility” that Keyler was experiencing drug-induced psychosis. Because of this, he convicted Keyler of the lesser charge of manslaughter.

After the conviction, Crown and defence lawyers made a joint submission on sentencing, which was accepted.

Keyler was designated a dangerous offender and sentenced to 11 years in prison before credit for time already spent in custody. The sentence was to be followed by a 10-year long-term supervision order “to manage the threat Mr. Keyler presents to the community.”

In the sentencing decision, Justice Ronald S. Tindale noted that Keyler had an “unenviable record” of 62 prior convictions, including multiple counts of robbery and an aggravated assault.

During previous spells in prison, Keyler committed “various infractions,” according to the decision. His record included entries for “contraband drugs, weapons, violence, disruptive or destructive behaviour and revocation of his parole.”

However, Tindale also noted that – while in custody awaiting sentencing for killing Foord – Keyler’s behaviour had “markedly improved.”

“Mr. Keyler is noted to be a good worker while incarcerated and enthusiastic and receptive to taking counselling and other programming,” the decision reads. “Mr. Keyler also says, and this is borne out in the materials, that he is maintaining his sobriety while incarcerated.”

The CSC said Keyler’s next of kin have been notified of his death.

“As in all cases involving the death of an inmate, the Correctional Service of Canada will review the circumstances,” the service’s news release reads.

“CSC policy requires that the police and the coroner be notified.”