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Liana White, 29, was stabbed to death July 12th, 2005.

Michael White, 29, has been found guilty of second-degree murder and offering an indignity to a dead body.

<< december 7th, 2006 | the michael white trial | december 13th, 2006 >>

630 CHED Radio and CTV Edmonton News reported that Michael White was found injured inside his cell at the Edmonton Remand Centre.

The stations said White was transported to Royal Alexandra Hospital under police escort at about 7:30 a.m.

Edmonton police sources were quoted as saying White was treated for non-life threatening injuries and was later returned to the remand centre.

Police did not confirm whether the injuries were the result of an altercation or were self-inflicted.

The stations quoted sources who said White was alone in his cell at the time he suffered the injuries.

Global Edmonton reported the injuries White suffered were to the neck and the station said police had launched a criminal investigation.

In an Edmonton Sun update to the story, White claimed he was assaulted.

A remand centre source told the paper White suffered cuts to both arms.

630 CHED Radio reporter Byron Christopher said White needed more than "70 stitches" to close his wounds which included a cut on his neck.

White is now on a suicide watch, said Christopher.

A source told the Sun, "If he was assaulted, he'd still be in hospital," adding that inmate-on-inmate violence typically results in more severe injuries.

Solicitor General spokesman Andy Weiler confirmed that Edmonton police were investigating both scenarios.

"Police are looking at whether there was an assault or whether the injuries were self-inflicted," Weiler told the Sun.

Two detectives were assigned to the case, said Edmonton police Inspector Dan Jones.

"They're trying to determine if it was criminal or not."

The Sun's source said White had a cellmate who wasn't known to be violent.

The Edmonton Journal added some detail to the nature of White's injuries.

The paper's sources suggest he suffered cuts from his wrists to his elbows, and from ear to ear along his throat.

The slashes weren't deep enough to cause serious damage, the source said adding that White had left a note that was later found by his cellmate.

"There was an allegation made by Michael White that he was assaulted by some inmates," Weiler told the paper. "Because there are allegations of a criminal incident, we'll automatically call [police]."

The Journal quoted another source who said White was placed in the centre's mental-health area, where inmates are kept in separate cells and are constantly monitored by video cameras and guards.

CTV Edmonton reported that a search of White's cell did not yield an object that may have caused his injuries.

Two days after the first reports of Michael White's injuries, police and remand centre officials remained tight-lipped.

The Edmonton Sun, attempting to keep the story alive in its pages on December 12th, 2006, contacted a U.S. expert on socio-paths.

Jack Levin, a criminologist at Northeastern University in Boston, told the Sun that White's injuries were a ploy in hopes of garnering a more lenient sentence.

"I could have written the script," said Levin.

He added that a suicide attempt could have been White's way of portraying himself as "a vulnerable, fragile man who misses his wife desperately and wants to be with her again in the hereafter."

Levin told the Sun that since White murdered his wife his actions exhibit the classic behaviour of a sociopath who feels sorry for himself, not for the people he's wronged.

"The same personality trait that permits him to feign innocence also permits him to be self-destructive in order to get a lighter sentence," said Levin.

The Sun, foreshadowing what may be next in store for Michael White, reported that inmates at the maximum-security Edmonton Institution where White is expected to be transferred to are anticipating his arrival.

"His life will be in danger here," a guard of ten years at the Max told the paper.

"There's an inmate code of conduct and you don't kill pregnant ladies and you don't kill kids."

White was expected to be placed directly into protective custody once he had been assessed.

On December 13th, 2006 two news wire services diagreed over the issue of the suicide watch.

The Canadian Press reported that White was placed under a watch but CTV.ca stated no watch had been issued.

Also carried in those reports was that Edmonton police have no evidence to suggest there was an assault by other inmates as White claimed.

The trial continued December 13th, 2006

the untold story
remembering liana white | the real michael white | the Vegreville Observer article

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deadmonton - the trial of michael white - december 10th, 2006