More than 10 years ago – on July 14, 1999 – 24 year old Scott Barnett collapsed in the maximum security Millhaven Institution’s exercise yard and died the following day.
An autopsy found he had been poisoned with cyanide, but no one was charged in the death.
But in 2006, the Joint Forces Penitentiary Squad, combining both OPP and Kingston Police Force investigators, reopened the cold case murder using what they called “a new investigative strategy” and following new information discovered in the case.
In March of this year, Phillip Vince, 52, was charged with killing Barnett. He was arrested at Saskatchewan Penitentiary, where he was serving a life sentence for two first-degree murder convictions.
On Tuesday of this week, OPP elements of the Penitentiary Squad also arrested James Maclean, 34, in Peterborough and charged him with first-degree murder in relation to Barnett’s death. Both men were Millhaven inmates at the time of this crime.
Maclean was taken to Napanee, Ontario for a court appearance where a new court date was set for July 6.
Police say the investigation is continuing.
