The days of our lives....
Geoff Nixon, The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Saturday, March 22, 2008
As news spread Saturday that Neil Stewart had escaped from a Quebec prison, his family and former neighbours said they knew little about how the convicted killer got out.
Mr. Stewart, 34, was convicted of first-degree murder in the 1999 gunshot slaying of his father, Lindsay Stewart. The 55-year-old cattle farmer owned a 150-acre ranch on Quebec's Grand Calumet Island, about 90 kilometres northwest of Ottawa.
Mr. Stewart was sentenced to life in prison on May 12, 2000, without eligibility for parole for 25 years.
Neil Stewart.View Larger Image View Larger Image
Neil Stewart.
Authorities in Quebec say he escaped from Laval's Federal Training Centre - a minimum-security facility used to train inmates for work - at about 5 p.m. Thursday.
His escape from prison came as a surprise to everyone who knew him, including members of his own family.
Mr. Stewart's uncle, Brian Ostrom, said his family - particularly Mr. Stewart's grandparents, who still live on Grand Calumet Island - were "very, very distraught" over his apparent prison break.
"We're concerned for his safety and concerned for everybody's safety."
Mr. Ostrom found it "astonishing" that his nephew could escape from a federal institution "without being missed." He also said he did not expect Mr. Stewart to contact the family, since it would not be to his advantage and he had rarely contacted his relatives since landing in prison.
"He's gaining nothing by this," Mr. Ostrom said of his nephew's decision to flee federal custody.
At present, the family has received some "very sketchy" information from police, he said, but they do not know anything more than what has been published in the media.
A message left at the home of Percy Stewart, who owns a property next door to where his late brother lived, was not returned to the Citizen.
After Lindsay Stewart's death, the farm he owned on Grand Calumet Island's Dunraven Road was sold outside the family.
Michel LaSalle, who runs a business down the road from the property, said he learned of Mr. Stewart's escape when he got a call from Lindsay Stewart's son-in-law on Friday afternoon.
"He must be clever enough if he got out of a penitentiary," he said. "I thought that he would be in a maximum-security prison for doing what he did."
Mr. LaSalle, a former school bus driver, used to drive Neil Stewart to school on a daily basis.
"I knew him pretty good," he said.
Other island dwellers who knew the slain farmer and his family said they had only just learned of his son's escape.
"He escaped from jail?" asked Victor Duval, who lives in a home down the road from where Lindsay Stewart lived. "That's big news for me."
"We just heard the news this morning," said a female homeowner on Dunraven Road who declined to give her name.
She said she had "no idea" what to think of the escape.
Sureté du Québec Sgt. Gregory Gomez del Prado said "there is nothing new" he could release to media yesterday afternoon.
If any member of the public has knowledge of Mr. Stewart's whereabouts, they should contact police and not try to approach him directly, he said. "Do not try to apprehend him yourself. Call 911 if you see him."
With files from Paul Cherry,
Katie Daubs and Peter Hum
Only in Canada would they place a guy convicted of 1st Degree Murder in a Minimal security facility and conceder him "low risk" >.<
I'm going to post the link to the video they did of all this with CBC...I'm in it since I work in Bryson and that's where the police fear he's headed and you know...everyone talks to me lol.