Convicted murderer dies in B.C. prison after 37 years

The bars of a prison cell are seen in this image. (Credit: Shutterstock)

Warning: This story contains details some readers may find disturbing.

An inmate serving an "indeterminate sentence" for second-degree murder has died in prison in Abbotsford, B.C., officials say.

Eugene Raymond Benoit was an inmate at the Regional Treatment Centre at the Pacific Institution. He had been in federal custody since Feb. 23, 1987, according to the Correctional Service of Canada.

The CSC said in a statement Wednesday that Benoit had died on July 13 of "apparent natural causes."

"As in all cases involving the death of an inmate, the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) will review the circumstances," the CSC statement reads. "CSC policy requires that the police and the coroner be notified."

The federal agency did not share any details about Benoit's crime.

A B.C. Court of Appeal decision from 1991 involving a second-degree murder convict named Eugene Raymond Benoit indicates the charge stemmed from the killing of Henry Stanley Pylypiak inside Benoit's Port Moody home in May 1986.

On the day of his death, Pylypiak was drinking at the home with Benoit, Gordon Stanley Miller, Charles Stewart McLetchie and Brenda Norrish, according to the decision.

McLetchie told the court he saw both Miller and Benoit hit Pylypiak with a baseball bat, but Benoit was the one who dealt the severe blows that caused his death.

"McLetchie said that he didn't see Miller leave the house but he next noticed Miller coming through the front door with a baseball bat," reads a summary of the trial testimony reproduced in the appeal decision.

"Miller then began hitting Pylypiak with it. He was poking him with it. He was hitting him in the lower body. He was ramming it into him. Benoit then reached over and took the bat from Miller saying that's not the way to do it. He put the bat over his head and brought it down on Pylypiak's head. Pylypiak was still sitting on the ground. Blood went flying everywhere. McLetchie said that he panicked and ran out of the house."

Both Miller and Benoit were accused of crimes, according to the decision. The jury in the case acquitted Miller and convicted Benoit.

The 1991 appeal sought to have the jury's verdict overturned as "unreasonable," but the court dismissed that argument.

"The jury were entitled to believe all or any part of the evidence of McLetchie and Miller and there is nothing unreasonable about their verdict finding Benoit guilty beyond a reasonable doubt," the decision concludes.