last link on the left › deadmonton

One time I was in the kitchen at Michael White's house when his phone rang. I recognized the number: it was from the Edmonton Remand Centre.

In my best presidential tone I answered, "The White House." I've always wanted to say that.

Some guy, who sounded suspiciously like a prisoner, was looking for "Mike."

I told him that Mike was not available. Could I take a message?

"Tell him Joe called."

"Joe who?"

"Joe Laboucan."

"Hi Joe, it's Byron ..."

"Byron, what the hell are you doing at Mike's house?"

Laboucan was one of several people facing first-degree murder charges after 13-year-old Nina Louise Courtepatte was beaten to death on a golf course west of Edmonton in the spring of 2005.

I'd interviewed Laboucan just after his arrest. He admitted to being at the scene although denied taking part in the attack.

White and Laboucan ended up sharing the same cell at the Remand.

They may have also had the same plants, I don't know.

Laboucan phoned White a number of times.

I said to White, "What's that about?"

He replied, "Joe wanted to know if I needed any money, but I said no thanks."

In 2008, White and Laboucan would again share the same postal code – T5J 3H7 – the Edmonton Institution. White was in D-Unit at the Max and Laboucan was in segregation, also known as "the hole."

Laboucan was kept in 23-hour lockup because, word was, some inmates wanted to kill him.

One of the harassment tactics practised in prison is for inmates to crap in a plastic soft-drink bottle, mix it with water (or some other liquid, use your imagination), stick the bottle in the opening under a cell door ... and step on the bottle real hard.

The prisoner and much of his cell then gets splattered.

Tag. You've been shit-bombed.

Laboucan was shit-bombed a number of times and was under constant threat of more serious attack. He was eventually transferred to the prison in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.

Michael White dealt with a few other reporters when he was out on bail and while at the Remand Centre.

White once talked about the time he was at a gas station when a female reporter from CFRN (CTV Edmonton) asked if she could speak with him.

White said only "off the record." She agreed.

According to White the reporter asked, "Why are you just talking to Byron ... is he related?"

White said that reporters wrote him while he was at the Remand, requesting interviews.

However, he said he received no 'perfumed letters' from female reporters – unlike Mr. Thomas Svekla, who later went down for the murder of one prostitute while getting acquitted for the murder of another.

"She likes me! She likes me!" announced a gushing Svekla to a cellmate.

No "Mr. Hockey Bag," she likes scoops.

White also talked about another encounter with a reporter from CFRN, this time at the Law Courts Building. It happened when the Crown was arguing to have White's bail revoked.

White said the TV journalist discovered him in the main library, where he had fled, passing the time away reading documents and waiting for the credits to roll up at the end of the 6:00 p.m. news.

My cell phone went off as I walked to my car, parked just east of the courthouse. It was Michael White. He sounded worried.

"What do I do?" he asked, explaining he was "trapped" in the Law Courts library and a reporter was standing close by. He said the guy told him, "No offence, Mike."

I told White I couldn't help him. He was on his own.

Later, White revealed that a sheriff led him through some corridors at the Law Courts Building, passages not accessible to the public, and slipped him out a side door. White described the officer as "decent."

<< previous chapter | main page | next chapter >>

Enquiries regarding material contained herein should be directed through the contact us link at the bottom of this page.
This material is protected by copyright. Further use of the material requires permission, in advance, before publication or broadcast. Linking on the internet directly to this page is permitted provided such practice adheres to conditions as outlined on the about this site page.

deadmonton - michael white - the untold story - 22