Few details about escape, recapture of inmate from Dorchester prison

Two days after an inmate escaped from Dorchester Penitentiary and was recaptured, no new information has been released.

On Saturday, shortly after 8:30 p.m., staff at the minimum-security unit of the prison noticed Jermaine Browne "was not accounted for," the Correctional Service of Canada announced in a news release early Sunday morning.

The RCMP were notified immediately and an arrest warrant was issued.

About an hour and a half later, Browne was apprehended.

An investigation into the circumstances of the escape is underway, Emile Belliveau, Dorchester's assistant warden, management services, said in a statement.

"Ensuring the safety and security of institutions, staff, and public remains the highest priority in the operations of the federal correctional system."

Details of crimes, sentence not released

On Monday, a CSC spokesperson who identified herself only by her first name Sophia, did not respond to any questions from CBC News, including what time Browne actually escaped, how he was discovered missing, or why the public wasn't notified until after he was arrested.

Nor did she say what crimes Browne is in prison for, or how long a sentence he's serving.

Convicted murderer 'walked away' 8 months ago

Just eight months ago, a convicted murderer "walked away" from the minimum security unit at Dorchester.

Robert Hilroy Legge, who is in his mid-80s, was "apprehended immediately" by staff, according to a news release issued by Correctional Service of Canada at the time.

Legge was sentenced to life in prison for the second-degree murder of Ann Lucas, 56, in Stephenville, N.L., 20 years ago.

In 2018, convicted murderer Steven Bugden, 45, also walked away from the minimum security unit. He was arrested in a wooded area between Dorchester and Sackville the following night.

Bugden was sentenced in 1999 to life in prison with no chance of parole for 15 years after he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the 1997 stabbing of a university student in Ottawa. Angela Tong, 22, was stabbed 19 times at an Ottawa hotel. The woman was a friend he had become infatuated with, according to parole records.

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Last step before being reintroduced to society

"There's no walls that separate this [minimum security] sector from the community," the assistant warden said at the time.

"This is the last step for [inmates] to be introduced into the society," Belliveau said. "If an inmate decides he wants to leave, he can do so on his own."

Still, "we take this very seriously," he said.

The minimum security unit is a "residential design model," and can house about 300 inmates, according to the Correctional Service of Canada website.

It consists of housing units, which include a shared living area for four to six inmates.

Dorchester Penitentiary is about 30 kilometres southeast of Moncton.