Inmate dies at Regional Psychiatric Center in Saskatoon

An inmate who served nearly 40 years in a federal institution over a fatal workplace fight has died in custody.

Stuart Neubauer died of apparent natural causes while in custody at the Regional Psychiatric Centre in Saskatoon, according to a press release from RPC.

Neubauer had been serving an indeterminate sentence in the facility since May 25, 1987, following a conviction for second-degree murder.

In a 1989 decision from Saskatchewan’s Court of Appeal, the judge writes that Neubauer described the murder as the culmination of a workplace conflict at the Safeway grocery store in Swift Current.

Neubauer told court he stayed late to fix a mechanical problem in the freezer. When he finished, around 5 a.m., he said his supervisor threw a can of fruit cocktail at his head, taunting him and challenging him to fight. Neubauer struck him with a fatal blow to the side of the head.

Panicking, he wrapped the body in plastic bags and hid it in the back of a mechanical room.

In a search of Neubauer’s home, police found the fragments of a rambling handwritten confession.

According to the RPC, the inmate's next of kin has been notified.

The Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) will review the circumstances and as per the CSC policy, the police and the coroner have been notified, RPC said.