The Ontario Provincial Police have arrested a Saanich man and charged him with murdering an inmate in a Kingston prison 20 years ago.
Investigators with the Joint Forces Penitentiary Squad and OPP Det. Insp. Paul Yelle arrived in Saanich Thursday and arrested Brian John Spinks, with the help of Saanich police. Spinks 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.
He was arrested Thursday afternoon when officers pulled over his vehicle in the 4500-block of Blenkinsop Road.
Sgt. Kristine Rae, spokeswoman for the Joint Forces Penitentiary Squad, said the 1994 homicide file remained open and technological advancements led to new evidence that made an arrest possible.
“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.”
Rae did not release the cause of death. It’s unclear what Spinks was serving time for in the medium-security institution.
Investigators have been in touch with Chau’s family, who were relieved by the news of an arrest, Rae said.
Under police escort, Spinks boarded a flight to Kingston from Victoria International Airport on Friday.
His Victoria lawyer, Denis Berntsen, said he would be conducting a bail hearing in Kingston.
Berntsen would not discuss any details about Spinks, saying they are covered by lawyer-client privilege.
“Unfortunately, people’s pasts can lead to false impressions and potentially cause police, Crown and others to jump to incorrect assumptions,” Berntsen said in an email.
After he was released from prison, Spinks moved to Saanich around 1998. In 2000, Spinks was sentenced to eight years in prison for a violent Saanich home invasion that took place on Nov. 30, 1998.
Spinks beat a man 25 times with the claw end of a hammer.
He and a woman, Rebecca Anne MacDougal, stormed the Tolmie Avenue apartment and attacked the two residents to steal a debit card.
The judge in that case called it a “savage attack” meant to “terrorize the victims.” One victim, Jeff Hearn, suffered a fractured skull, two broken arms and numerous cuts.
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.
He is set to appear by video in the Ontario Court of Justice today and will appear in court again on Monday.
