A man who was facing several charges, including two counts of attempted murder, has died while in custody at Prince George Regional Correctional Centre, the B.C. Coroners Service confirmed Thursday.
Paul Gerard Judge, 47, died on Christmas Day from an injury suffered five days before, the service said in a media release. He faced charges stemming from a mid-December shots fired incident.
The service said foul play is not suspected. The statement did not say whether Judge committed suicide and Prince George coroner Donita Kuzma could not be reached for comment Thursday.
"The coroners service continues to investigate this death," the service said in the release.
Judge was facing eight charges in all from an incident on Dec. 17 when police received a call from a nearby gas station of a shots-fired incident at a home near Fifth and Tabor.
Upon arrival at the gas station, they found a vehicle with a single bullet hole lodged in it. Judge was apprehended at the home without incident a short time later but not before the house had been set on fire.
In addition to the attempted murder charges, he had been facing two counts each of discharging a firearm with an intent to wound or disfigure and possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose, and one count each of arson damaging property and careless use of a firearm.
A family friend said Judge was one of the employees who had lost his job at Lakeland Mills following the April explosion and fire but had since found employment elsewhere.
He said the shots fired incident came as a shock.
"The last time I saw the family was a week before what was reported and none of us could believe what we were hearing," he said.
Charges against Judge have since been "abated," criminal justice branch spokesman Neil Mackenzie confirmed, meaning the case has been struck from the court's list.
