Mountie killer to stand trial on prison assault charge
Justin Bourque pleads not guilty to prison assault
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A Moncton man serving a life sentence for killing three Mounties in 2014 has chosen trial methods for assault charges he’s facing for an alleged attack inside the maximum-security prison where he’s serving his time.
Justin Bourque, 34, appeared in Miramichi provincial court by video Monday on charges of aggravated assault and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose.
Bourque pleaded not guilty to both counts and elected to stand trial by judge alone in provincial court.
Duty counsel Simon Wood, representing Bourque, and Saint-Antoine defence lawyer Gilles Lemieux, representing co-accused Christian Enang Clyke, 31, of Halifax, asked the court to set the case over to April 11 to allow Clyke to appear at the same time as Bourque to elect trial methods and enter pleas.
Judge Donald LeBlanc granted the request.
Clyke, who appeared in-person, is also charged with second-degree murder in the October 2022 death of Richard Alan (Richie) King in the prison. King had been serving a life sentence at Atlantic Institution in Renous for his role in the 2006 murder of Shawn (Budgie) Tomah of Woodstock First Nation.
New Brunswick RCMP Cpl. Hans Ouellette previously told Brunswick News that on May 3, 2022, at around 2 p.m., police responded to a report of an assault at a correctional facility in Renous. A 28-year-old man who was an inmate at the facility was found injured and taken to hospital with serious injuries.
On Sept. 11, 2023, Ouellette said, Bourque and Clyke were both charged with one count each of aggravated assault and possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose. Both remain in custody.
Bourque is serving a life sentence for killing three RCMP officers in a shooting spree that shocked the nation in 2014. He also shot and wounded two other officers.
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