A Saanich man charged with murdering an inmate in a Kingston prison 20 years ago has been interrogated by police and remains adamant he had nothing to do with the case, his defence lawyer said Monday.
Last week, the Ontario Provincial Police and investigators with the Joint Forces Penitentiary Squad flew to Victoria and arrested Brian John Spinks, who has legally changed his name from Brian James Riches.
Spinks is charged with the first-degree murder of 40-year-old Phong Chau, who was found dead with trauma to his body in his cell at Joyceville Institution on July 24, 1994. Spinks, now 40, was also an inmate of Joyceville in 1994, serving time for robbery.
The 1994 homicide file remained open and technological advancements led to new evidence that made the arrest possible, Sgt. Kristine Rae, spokeswoman for the Joint Forces Penitentiary Squad, said Friday.
“In 1994, we didn’t have the technology that we do today. When you’re investigating something in a prison like that, it has its own difficulties,” Rae said.
“Through technological advancements, we were able to re-examine evidence, and that evidence brought in other leads. Through that whole process, we were able to determine [Spinks] was the one we were looking for.”
Victoria defence lawyer Denis Berntsen is in Ontario and met with Spinks, who is being held at the Quinte Detention Centre.
Berntsen said the “new technology” appears to be a jailhouse informant who is reported to have given false information on the case once before.
“I am still awaiting full disclosure, but it appears the informer previously informed the police that someone else committed this offence,” Berntsen said in an email.
Berntsen said the arrest seems like an attempt by the OPP to spend hours interrogating Spinks to get a statement.
“Despite the OPP having tremendous experience and skill in extracting statements, they appear to have nothing more now than they did before they arrested Mr. Spinks,” Berntsen said. “This arrest amounts to an abuse of process by the OPP, who may have acted on nothing more than a hunch based on the allegations of a jailhouse informant.”
Spinks’s bail hearing is set for Thursday in Kingston, Berntsen said.
Under police escort, Spinks boarded a flight to Kingston from Victoria International Airport on Friday.
Berntsen would not discuss any details about Spinks, saying they are covered by lawyer-client privilege.
After he was released from prison, Spinks moved to Saanich in about 1998. In 2000, Spinks was sentenced to eight years in prison for a violent Saanich home invasion on Nov. 30, 1998.
In April 2013, Spinks was acquitted by a B.C. Supreme Court jury on charges of unlawfully producing marijuana and possessing more than three kilograms of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking.
On Dec. 13, 2013, after a trial in B.C. Supreme Court, Spinks and his co-accused, Pao Chun Hu, were convicted of trafficking in heroin and possession of heroin. Spinks is scheduled to appear in court on March 12 to set a date for his sentencing.
