After 2 mistrials, there won't be a third in case against former EMDC jail guard

A former jail guard accused of failing to provide the necessaries of life to an inmate beaten to death while he was on duty will not have a third trial, the Crown announced in court Wednesday.

Two separate juries in two separate trials could not reach unanimous verdicts in the case against Leslie Lonsbary, who was a corrections officer at the Elgin Middlesex Detention Centre in October 2013, when inmate Adam Kargus was beaten to death by his cellmate.

"It's incumbent on the Crown to determine if there is a public interest to proceed. The Crown has a duty of fairness to the Kargus family, to the general public and indeed to Mr. Lonsbary," General Crown Counsel Fraser Kelly said Wednesday morning.

"After careful consideration, the Crown has decided not to pursue this any further. Two different juries were deadlocked on the same case in the span of seven months. All of the evidence that has been put before a jury has been put before two juries."

Kargus was killed by his cellmate, Anthony George, on Oct. 31, 2013.

Lonsbarywas the guard on duty that night.

He had two trials, one in January and one in September. Both ended in mistrials because the juries could not come to unanimous verdicts.

"Adam Kargus died an unnatural death. His family is willing and even eager for a third trial. These people loved Adam. They want all the people responsible to be held accountable," Kelly said. "I can only imagine the horror these people have been through in the last six years. But after six years ... this case must end."

The case was officially "stayed," which means the Crown could re-try it within a year if there is new evidence.

The dismissal of the criminal charges pave the way for a coroner's inquest into Kargus' death at the provincial jail.