On August 24, 2023, Clifford Maltby, an inmate from Pacific Institution, died while in custody of apparent natural causes.
At the time of death, the inmate had been serving an indeterminate sentence, which began on November 9, 1982.
In 1982 Maltby was charged with defrauding 15 investors of about $164, 500. He would be sentenced to 5 years behind bars.
That same year he made headlines by initiating a hunger striker to improve conditions at the Saskatoon Correctional Centre. Up to 29 prisoner participated, fasting up to 10 days.
Maltby would be paroled in 1986, but was arrested again that year for taking hostages at the Bahamian high commission, holding them at gun point for nearly 15 hours.
Allegedly he wanted a friend, Edward Engen, released from Kingston Penitentiary in exchange for the hostages.
Maltby would eventually plead guilty to unlawful confinement and sentenced to another 5 years in prison.
On April 17 1991, Maltby was given an unescorted pass from the prison to examine facilities available for day parole. He failed to return to the prison, and was declared unlawfully at large.
He would be recaptured 3 days later, and released after serving his sentence in December of 1992.
On March 06, 1993 Canada a wide warrant was issued for Clifford Maltby who was the prime suspect in a series spree of crimes across Ontario the previous months.
These included the armed robbery of a real estate agent in Sarnia, the forcible confinement of a real estate agent in Hawkesbury and the murder of Douglas Grass who was working at the Stratford Shakespeare festival.
Maltby would end up pleading guilty to first degree murder and be sentenced to a mandatory life sentence.
As in all cases involving the death of an inmate, the Correctional Service of Canada will review the circumstances. CSC policy requires that the police and the coroner be notified.