New Brunswick·NewA man who murdered three RCMP officers and injured two others in 2014 in Moncton has been found guilty of a prison stabbing.35-year-old to be sentenced on aggravated assault and weapon charges Shane Magee · CBC News · Posted: Sep 10, 2025 12:08 PM EDT | Last Updated: 22 minutes agoA judge in Miramichi ruled Wednesday that Justin Bourque and Christian Clyke are guilty of aggravated assault and possessing a weapon in relation to a 2022 prison stabbing. (Shane Magee/CBC)A man who murdered three RCMP officers and injured two others in 2014 in Moncton has been found guilty of a prison stabbing. Miramichi provincial court Judge Johanne-Marguerite Landry ruled Wednesday that Justin Christen Bourque and Christian Enang Clyke committed aggravated assault and possessed a weapon. “They are found guilty of both charges,” Landry said.The two stood trial over two days in May on the charges alleging they had shanks, or homemade weapons, and assaulted Chase Spence at the Atlantic Institution prison on May 3, 2022. All three were inmates in the maximum security prison southwest of Miramichi. Clyke, who doesn’t have a lawyer, took the stand to testify and argued he acted in self-defence when he stabbed Spence. Bourque didn’t testify and his lawyer had argued the Crown had failed to prove his guilt.Landry rejected the self-defence claim, saying it didn’t meet an air of reality test. Justin Bourque is serving life sentences for murdering three RCMP officers in Moncton in 2014. (Andrew Robson)Crown prosecutor Jean-Guy Savoie declined to comment on the verdict, as did Bourque’s lawyer Simon Wood.While the events at the centre of the trial occurred in May 2022, the charges were only laid in November 2023. Six Crown witnesses and Clyke himself testified during the trial. Clyke had testified Spence had sent a note before being moved into the same unit as Bourque and Clyke that threatened to attack the first person he saw.No such note was presented at trial, and the judge said Clyke could have alerted prison officials about the threat but didn’t.Christian Clyke is also serving a life sentence for a murder in Nova Scotia. (Andrew Robson)Surveillance video that captured most of the events was shown during the trial.It showed Spence entering the same prison unit as Bourque and Clyke around 1:30 p.m. while carrying bags of belongings. While walking through a hall with cell doors, he and Bourque exchanged words. The video doesn’t include audio of the interaction. The judge said Spence made a gesture and made contact with Bourque’s throat. Both then appeared to pull out weapons, the judge said. Spence dropped his bags and moved up the hall where Clyke was standing. Spence ran past Clyke, who followed him into another area with Bourque. The video shows Spence falling to the floor, but the actual stabbing happens just outside the video frame. Clyke is shown walking away bleeding. Stabbed several timesThe judge said medical records entered as evidence say Spence had various minor wounds and one stab wound that penetrated his chest wall. Spence didn’t testify in the trial. An RCMP officer testified that neither Spence nor the two accused provided statements to police. Bourque offered no defence evidence and opted not to testify.Sentence has been scheduled for Sept. 24 for Bourque and Oct. 23 for Clyke.Bourque is serving life sentences for the murders of constables Fabrice Gevaudan, Doug Larche and Dave Ross on June 4, 2014. He also wounded constables Darlene Goguen and Eric Dubois.Clyke, 33, is serving a life sentence for the 2011 shooting death of Angela Hall in Dartmouth, N.S.He is appealing that case and is awaiting sentencing after being found guilty of second-degree murder for killing Richard Alan King, another Atlantic Institution inmate, on Oct. 6, 2022.ABOUT THE AUTHORShane Magee is a Moncton-based reporter for CBC.
Justin Bourque found guilty of 2022 prison stabbing
