Don Jail inmate admits murder over half a bag of Ruffles potato chips

thestar.com ^ | April 3, 2012 | Betsy Powell

[Free ThinkerNY]

“Nobody punks me off for a bag of chips.”

That was what Troy Campbell told fellow inmates at the Toronto “Don” Jail after stomping on the head of Jeff Munro, 32, on Nov. 7, 2009. He was angry that Munro, a “vulnerable” inmate with a history of psychiatric illness, had stolen and eaten a half a bag of Ruffles potato chips.

Campbell, in custody for robbery and aggravated assault, returned to Munro’s cell two or three times and assaulted him with his feet as he lay on his bed, Crown Margaret Creal told court, reading from an agreed statement of facts.

“Witnesses could hear the sound of the victim crying,” she said of Munro, who had worked several years earlier as a dancer on a Caribbean cruise.

On Tuesday, Campbell pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, reduced from first-degree murder. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Thursday.

Campbell, 26, had “special status” inside the notorious jail, conferred on him by his jailers for assisting guards distributing food to other inmates and cleaning tasks.

[Persevero]

“And why do we have so many inmates? The drug war and government expansion with no end in sight.”

Well, you lose me there, I have a long history of advocating for drug laws. I see drug abusers as a societal menace, and have no problem with the pre-emptive incarceration of those “victimless” criminals.

Nevertheless, I am an advocate of prison reform, and would like to see an end to prison rape and other abuses. When there is a will there is a way.

[MetaThought]

You do realize that quality and quantity are inversely correlated, especially when many states are running out of money. Prisons are an easy target for cost-cutting ...

America also has the highest incarceration rate, followed by Russia and Rwanda. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incarceration_in_the_United_States#Comparison_with_other_countries