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Shortly after the guilty verdict, Michael White was back in the news again.

White was rushed from the Remand Centre to the Royal Alexandria Hospital after his throat and wrist were slit.

It's not clear what happened.

Guards said White tried to kill himself.

Inmate White has a different story.

White said he remembered hearing his door click, felt somebody sitting on his chest, his arm being held out ... and his head pushed to the side.

The next thing he recalled, he said, is waking up and feeling his pillow wet. White said he made his way to his cell door but it was locked.

Because prison authorities ruled that it was an attempted suicide, no one was charged.

No weapon was found and there was no blood was found around the sink or toilet. And if White had a weapon, he didn't get rid of it there.

I wasn't able to see Michael White.

For reasons never explained to me, I had been "banned" from the Remand Centre after the initial White interview in July 2005. I tried finding out why but after getting passed around to four or five different people, I just gave up.

However, White's civil lawyer did get in to see her client for a face-to-face meeting.

Marilyn Burns said she was shocked when White pulled back his bandages to reveal a swollen gash, about 4 inches long, covered by a row of black stitches.

She said there were also a "T" and "F" cuts on his wrist.

According to Burns, both cuts were jagged and thick. She didn't think they were caused by something sharp, like a knife or a razor.

(Burns described the incident to this website in an e-mail, the contents of which can be seen here)

With his neck heavily bandaged, White appeared in court to hear Justice Moreau say he'd have to wait at least seventeen years to get parole. White is not eligible for parole until 2022.

The former soldier was later put into the back of a van and driven to the "Max," the federal prison northeast of Edmonton.

White's family in Ontario bought him a small TV, an old video console with games and some new clothing – spending the maximum amount allowed for new prisoners admitted to a federal institution.

Prisoners convicted of high-profile murders usually have "welcoming committees" to deal with. Within days of checking into the Max, Michael White was to meet his.

Video from a security camera showed more than half a dozen prisoners attacking White, punching and kicking him, in the gymnasium's weight room.

White called it a "good curb stomping." After he fell to his knees, he said he tried to protect his head from the blows.

White maintains he didn't fight back.

A bruised and bloodied White refused to lay charges.

Months later, when White pointed out one of his attackers – a scrawny but street-wise looking gentleman from Hobbema – I remarked, "You said you didn't fight back."

"That's right," he said.

"Well, how do you explain why the guy has half his teeth missing?"

A guard said he warned White that an attack was likely imminent, but that White didn't try to hide out or avoid it. The guard said White even wore clothing with his name displayed in small letters.

"It's as if White was saying 'Here I am.' "

There was an irony to Michael White ending up at the Edmonton Institution. Just the year before Liana was killed, White had worked in fields surrounding the maximum security prison.

He said he picked up a little extra cash by working for a potato farmer. He said he used to look through the double prison fence, topped with razor-wire, and wonder about the scum being held inside.

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deadmonton - michael white - the untold story - 34