Authorities say a man convicted for the murder of a Carleton University Student more than two decades ago has escaped from the minimum security unit at the Dorchester Penitentiary in New Brunswick.
Steven Bugden, 45, was not present when inmates were counted at the multi-level facility Wednesday night, according to Sackville RCMP.
He is described as a five-foot-five, 188-pound white male with blonde hair and blue eyes.
Bugden was sentenced to life in prison for the second-degree murder of a young woman in Ottawa in 1997.
22-year-old Angela Tong was stabbed 19 times before she was left outside in a duffel bag.
Friends of the victim say Bugden’s escape opens old wounds.
“This is somebody who found it in his heart to stab a really beautiful, gentle person 19 times,” Kristine Kruszelnicki said.
Kruszelnicki posted a warning in a memorial page dedicated to Tong, asking others to keep an eye out.
“Angela doesn’t get her life back… I want to see him go back to prison and I want to see him go back for life.”
Budgen was last seen at 4 p.m. Wednesday in the condo where he lived with four other inmates.
They can walk out if they want,” Emile Belliveau, an assistant warden at Dorchester Penitentiary, told The Canadian Press. “There’s no walls or perimeter around the minimum sector at the Dorchester institution.”
Belliveau added that Bugden had been deemed a low risk to public safety, as there had been no incidents with him prior to his escape.
“They can walk out if they want,” Emile Belliveau, an assistant warden at Dorchester Penitentiary, told The Canadian Press. “There’s no walls or perimeter around the minimum sector at the Dorchester institution.”
Anyone who sees him is urged to stay clear and call police immediately at 506-364-5023, or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477.
