Missing Alberta inmate and boyfriend arrested in BC

Global News

2 days ago

An Alberta inmate who has been missing for weeks and her boyfriend have been arrested and charged in relation to allegations that an inmate was wrongfully released from jail as a result of forged documents.
The inmate, Mackenzie Dawn Hardy, 24, and David Joseph Wood, 27, were apprehended by police this week in the BC interior.
RCMP said on May 27, a patrol officer with Revelstoke RCMP spotted two people walking away from a stolen vehicle in the western BC community and recognized the couple as Hardy and Wood.
Officers contained the area and arrested both suspects. They have since appeared before a justice of the peace and are in custody.
On top of Hardy's existing outstanding warrants, RCMP said she has been charged with escaping lawful custody. RCMP have charged Wood with assisting escape of prisoner, identify fraud and uttering a forged document.
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RCMP said the couple will be brought back to Alberta, and future court dates have yet to be set.
1:54
TikTok twist in case of suspect released by mistake
Earlier this month, Global News was sent documents and email screenshots appearing to show how an alleged fake stay of proceedings letter tricked the justice system into letting out the woman, who then started sharing her life on the run on social media.
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The documents were sent to both Global News and Alberta Justice in one anonymous email.
They include what appears to be that letter, along with court documents related to the charges and what look like interactions with people working in Alberta's justice system. The emails were dated April 25 — the day Hardy was released from the jail northeast of Edmonton.
The Alberta Crown Prosecution Service said Hardy was released after the correctional centre was presented with fraudulent documents.
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The correspondence uses the identity of a real Crown prosecutor (whose name Global News is not disclosing), but the email address was not the Crown's usual email address but looked similar to the standard email addresses used by the province's attorneys.
They appear to show conversations with someone posing as a Crown prosecutor and Alberta Justice department employees.
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Documents seem to show how Alberta inmate was wrongly released from jail
The person who sent the documents to Global News used a Proton Mail email address, which is used by some people to remain anonymous and untraceable.
The alleged fraudster claimed they do not know Hardy, have never spoken to her and picked her as their test subject because her court information was readily available. They said they acted alone and 'did it to expose how dangerously unprotected our justice system is.'
The person claimed in the memo sent to Global News and Alberta Justice they had been quietly researching Alberta's court and corrections processes.
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Their claims have not been proven and they would not disclose their identity to Global News.
On Thursday, Red Deer RCMP said investigators determined Wood allegedly conspired with Hardy and assisted with the fraudulent release.
Hardy was in custody at the Fort Saskatchewan Correctional Centre (FSCC), after being arrested in Red Deer twice in the span of a week for similar alleged offences back in March involving stolen vehicles, theft, possession of methamphetamine and driving without proper documentation. Hardy told Global News said she is innocent/not guilty of those charges.
A fraudulent 'stay letter' was allegedly submitted under the name of a Crown prosecutor and sent through a bogus 'defence counsel,' according to a whistleblower Global News agreed not to identify due to the risk of them losing their job.
RCMP said officials caught on to the fraudulent release four days after Hardy was inadvertently let go on April 25. Last week on May 23, an arrest warrant was also issued for Wood.
Global News interviewed Hardy via a video call on May 17 after she surfaced online, posting videos to TikTok under the handle kensies.on.the.lamb.
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Wanted suspect talks about mistaken release
The first post on the account contained Global News' first story about her release. In some of the videos, she appears to taunt police and the justice system.
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Hardy did not tell Global News where she was, only stating she wasn't in Alberta anymore and had nothing to do with her own release.
Alberta RCMP thanked their B.C. counterparts for helping in the search for the couple.