Mountie killer's prison assault trial set for 3 days in December

The man who killed three RCMP officers in Moncton almost a decade ago will stand trial later this year on allegations of a prison assault against a fellow inmate.

Justin Christen Bourque, 34, has pleaded not guilty and has opted to be tried by a judge in provincial court on two charges.

The charges allege he had a shank, a homemade weapon,on May 3, 2022, and that he committed aggravated assault by wounding inmate Chase Spence.

Bourque is co-accused with another man, which means the two will be tried together.The two menmade brief appearances in Miramichi provincial court Thursday afternoon.

Their trial is scheduled for Dec. 16, 18and 19.

The alleged incident happened in the Atlantic Institution, a maximum security prison in Renous,about 30 kilometres southwest of Miramichi.

New Brunswick RCMP said in a statement last year that officers from the Blackville detachment were called around 2 p.m. on May 3, 2022,for a report of an assault at the prison.

Police say a 28-year-old inmate was injured. The inmate was taken to hospital with what were believed to be non-life threatening injuries.

Bourque and the co-accused, a man from Halifax, were charged on Sept. 11 last year.

Bourqueis serving life sentences for fatally shootingRCMP constables Dave Ross, Fabrice Gevaudan and Douglas Larche and woundingconstables Darlene Goguen and Eric Duboisin Moncton on June 4, 2014.