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Winnipeg Free Press
21-05-2025
- Winnipeg Free Press
Arrest warrant issued for Alberta woman released from jail with fake documents
EDMONTON – An arrest warrant has been issued for an Alberta woman who was released from jail last month with alleged fake documents. Mackenzie Dawn Hardy was charged with several offences, including possession of stolen property, impaired driving and flight from police, after she was arrested in March. The Alberta Crown Prosecution Service says Hardy was released from custody after staff at the Fort Saskatchewan Correctional Centre near Edmonton were shown documents indicating her charges had been stayed. Spokeswoman Michelle Davio says the use of the alleged false documents is being investigated by police. RCMP Cpl. Troy Savinkoff says an Alberta-wide warrant has been issued for Hardy and efforts are being made to extend it Canada-wide. A woman identifying herself as Hardy has posted videos on the social media platform TikTok, where she taunts law enforcement and denies the papers were fake. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 21, 2025.
Toronto Star
21-05-2025
- Toronto Star
Arrest warrant issued for Alberta woman released from jail with fake documents
EDMONTON - An arrest warrant has been issued for an Alberta woman who was released from jail last month with alleged fake documents. Mackenzie Dawn Hardy was charged with several offences, including possession of stolen property, impaired driving and flight from police, after she was arrested in March. The Alberta Crown Prosecution Service says Hardy was released from custody after staff at the Fort Saskatchewan Correctional Centre near Edmonton were shown documents indicating her charges had been stayed. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW Spokeswoman Michelle Davio says the use of the alleged false documents is being investigated by police. RCMP Cpl. Troy Savinkoff says an Alberta-wide warrant has been issued for Hardy and efforts are being made to extend it Canada-wide. A woman identifying herself as Hardy has posted videos on the social media platform TikTok, where she taunts law enforcement and denies the papers were fake. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 21, 2025.
Calgary Herald
21-05-2025
- Calgary Herald
Released from Fort Saskatchewan jail on fake papers, woman on the lam
Article content Freed from Fort Saskatchewan jail last month by what officials are calling faked release papers, 24-year-old Mackenzie Dawn Hardy is posting her way into 15 minutes of fame, taunting law enforcement on TikTok. Article content Article content 'My name is Mackenzie, and I got a funny story to tell you guys, so the government f—ed up, and I'm an escaped inmate right now, they are not gonna catch me because I'm two, one step ahead of them…,' she posted. Article content Article content She garnered half a million likes by Tuesday evening. Article content Article content Hardy faces a number of charges, including possession of property over $5,000, possession of property under $5,000, impaired driving, flight from peace officer, two charges of operation while prohibited, two charges of fraudulent concealment, possession of controlled substance — meth, and two charges of failure to comply with a release order. Article content Michelle Davio of the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service (ACPS) confirmed Hardy was released after the Fort Saskatchewan Correctional Centre was presented with fraudulent documents indicating the charges against her had been stayed. Article content 'As soon as ACPS became aware, we responded by seeking a warrant for her arrest. The ACPS has also referred the alleged use of fraudulent documents to the RCMP for investigation,' Davio told Postmedia in an emailed statement. Article content Article content 'The ACPS takes this matter very seriously and steps have been taken by all parties to ensure this cannot happen in the future,' Davio said. Article content Via TikTok, Hardy disputed the government account. Article content 'I never escaped. The government f—ed up. There was no fraudulent release order,' she said. Article content 'The court signed my release, no fake paperwork, no tricks.' Article content 'I'm not a danger to the public, I'm not a threat. I'm just a girl who bought a van legally and got punished for trusting the wrong people. I've got the receipts. I've got the proof,' she said. Article content Hardy claimed her boyfriend, 'the person I spent my life with,' was diagnosed with tumor stage three. Article content 'The doctors gave him about a year to live, so yeah, when I got released, I felt like it was more than paperwork. It felt like a gift from God, like the timing was too perfect to be random,' she posted.
Global News
21-05-2025
- Global News
Documents seem to show how Alberta inmate was wrongly released from jail
There's been another twist in the bizarre case of an Alberta inmate being wrongly released from jail last month. Global News has been 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 has since been sharing her life on the run on social media. Mackenzie Dawn Hardy, 24, 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 has agreed not to identify due to the risk of them losing their job. Story continues below advertisement The Alberta Crown Prosecution Service also told Global News Hardy was released after the correctional centre was presented with fraudulent documents. The documents sent to Global News this week 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 are dated April 25 — the day Hardy was released from the jail northeast of Edmonton. They appear to show conversations with someone posing as a Crown prosecutor and Alberta Justice department employees. View full screen View full screen View full screen Previous Image Next Image Close Modal Gallery The correspondence uses the identity of a real Crown prosecutor (whose name Global News is not disclosing), but the email address is a fake and altered to look similar to the standard email addresses used by the province's attorneys. Story continues below advertisement Global News has not verified the identity of the anonymous person who provided the documents, but we can say metadata in those documents leads our team to believe they are the ones used to free Hardy. The person who sent the documents used a Proton Mail email address, which is used by some people to remain anonymous and untraceable. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'What happened wasn't some elaborate scheme on (Hardy's) part. It was me acting alone. And I did it to expose how dangerously unprotected our justice system is,' the emailer claimed, alleging they have been quietly researching Alberta's court and corrections processes. 'This wasn't a hack. This wasn't insider access. This was a stress test using nothing but public resources, basic social engineering, and a system too trusting of its own paperwork,' the emailer stated in their memo sent to Global News and Alberta Justice on Monday night. Their claims have not been proven and they would not disclose their identity to Global News. After reading the letter allegedly used to facilitate her release, an Alberta criminal defence lawyer who does not represent Hardy said it looks legitimate. Story continues below advertisement 'That is one pretty professional, believable looking letter,' Ari Goldkind said. 'That is a pretty good dupe and whoever relied on it, I don't think should be faulted. 'I think the fault lies with the person who committed the fraud — not the person who fell for it.' Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I think the fault lies with the person who committed the fraud — not the person who fell for it." 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. 1:54 TikTok twist in case of suspect released by mistake Global News interviewed Hardy on Saturday after she surfaced online, posting videos to TikTok under the handle The first post on the account contained Global News' first story about her release. As of Tuesday afternoon, it had more than 150,000 views. Story continues below advertisement In some of the videos, she appears to taunt police and the justice system. Goldkind believes that may come back to bite her. 'Particularly, the one that calls the prison officers and police 'piggies.' The taunting of the jail officials that released her I think will be a big problem for her when she's caught, wherever she's caught — whether it's in Alberta or Canada wide.' 'I think that that kind of speaks volumes and we'll just see how seriously a judge takes this when she is caught.' Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I think that that kind of speaks volumes and we'll just see how seriously a judge takes this when she is caught." Hardy did not tell Global News where she is, only stating she isn't in Alberta anymore and had nothing to do with her own release. There is a warrant out for Hardy's arrest in Alberta, but RCMP said it could be extended if she is found in another province. Story continues below advertisement 'The most important thing she can do to try and reverse this and come clean is turn herself in,' Goldkind said. 'The courts look very differently on a person who turns themselves in as opposed to two officers having to get on a plane with a Canada-wide warrant and bringing her back because they arrested her while hiding. 'Makes a very, very big difference in our system. ' Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Makes a very, very big difference in our system. " Hardy said while in jail, she was pursuing bail because her boyfriend had been diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor and has about a year left to live. Global News has not verified that claim. 2:09 Wanted suspect talks about mistaken release Hardy told Global News she heard from her lawyer after a week of being released, saying she wasn't supposed to be out. Story continues below advertisement When speaking with Global News on the weekend, Hardy said she does not currently have a lawyer, and she hasn't thought about the legal consequences her boyfriend could face if he assists Hardy in continuing to be on the run. Goldkind said fraud of this scale does not happen often and when the alleged perpetrator is found, their punishment needs to serve as a deterrent. 'I think the attention really has to come on finding the person who wrote the fraudulent letter, prosecuting them to the fullest extent of the law and using them as an example.' Last week when Global News broke the story, the province's department of public safety said it is investigating what happened. On Tuesday, the department said it has made changes as a result of this investigation but did not disclose what those changes were for security reasons. 1:56 Alberta inmate missing after alleged forged letter led to her accidental release Global News has reached out to the RCMP for an update on the whereabouts of Mackenzie Hardy, but as of publishing had not heard back.
CBC
28-03-2025
- CBC
Judge says 2011 Edmonton prison killing remains 'suspect,' recommends public inquiry
Justice Donna Groves concludes circumstances of Mason Montgrand's death 'a matter of public concern' After more than a decade, two police investigations and several probes of staff conduct at Edmonton's maximum security prison, a judge says it's still unclear exactly what led to Mason Tex Montgrand's death in custody. In yet another look at the case through a fatality inquiry, Justice Donna Groves is recommending a broader public inquiry, concluding the circumstances of the killing on Aug. 16, 2011, "remain suspect." "I find that the circumstances surrounding the death of Montgrand is a matter of public concern," the judge wrote in her final report, released this month. Groves noted there was significant information that was withheld from her inquiry, making it difficult to issue "any meaningful recommendations" aimed at preventing similar deaths. Without a full picture of the situation, "Circumstances like those surrounding the death of Montgrand would require an inquiry that goes beyond the limited and restricted scope of a fatality inquiry," she said. That includes the possibility of an investigation to fully explain why the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service (ACPS) chose not to lay charges that the Edmonton Police Service wanted to pursue. Montgrand was 21 when he was fatally stabbed at the Edmonton Institution on Aug. 18, 2011. No one has ever been held criminally responsible in his death. Another inmate, Lance Regan, was charged with first-degree murder a few days after the killing. By 2016 — five years after he was charged — Regan still hadn't gone to trial. The case became the first murder charge in Alberta to be stayed under the Supreme Court's Jordan decision, which sets a 30-month ceiling for the period between laying charges and the start of a superior court trial. The Court of Appeal of Alberta overturned the stay, ordering a new trial in early 2018. But in October of that year, the Crown quietly stayed the murder charge against Regan again, effectively dropping the case. Judge questions conclusions of CSC investigation The fatality inquiry, held nearly 14 years after Montgrand's death, heard that he and Regan were members of rival gangs. Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) staff were advised several months before Montgrand's death that the groups were "at war" with each other. Groves's report says on the day of the killing, two correctional staff members decided Regan and Montgrand, who were being held in cells directly next to each other, could be let out at the same time to shower. Video surveillance caught Regan going into Montgrand's cell and attacking him when he returned. A weapon was never recovered. Fatality inquiries are prohibited from making findings of legal responsibility, which Groves stresses in her examination of the case. But she raises concerns about how federal prison authorities handled the incident. Her report says an Edmonton Institution correctional officer claimed Regan and Montgrand had made multiple previous requests to be allowed out together. But there was no written documentation showing that happened, apart from statements written by two other officers, two days after the stabbing. An internal CSC board of investigation determined in 2011 that Montgrand and Regan's gang affiliations didn't contribute to the incident, saying they had a "lengthy personal history" because they grew up in the same area, and had asked to be out of their cells together. But Groves said the lack of any evidence of those requests from before Montgrand's death "should have sounded an alarm to the board." Additionally, she said it's since been proven that the pair did not grow up together. "I am uncertain where the board acquired this inaccurate information." Police investigate alleged 'fight club' After the first homicide investigation in 2011, police reviewed Montgrand's death a second time in 2017. It was part of a massive investigation EPS called "Project Max," prompted by the former head of the CSC reporting alleged criminal offences at the Edmonton Institution. Among the allegations was a "fight club" inside the prison where guards directed or allowed inmates to assault each other. An EPS investigator was tasked with examining whether one or more correctional officers orchestrated Montgrand's homicide by purposely letting him out of his cell with an "incompatible" inmate, the report said. The fatality inquiry heard that in April 2018, EPS recommended that a correctional manager and two correctional officers be charged with murder and criminal negligence causing death in relation to Montgrand's case. The correctional manager still works for CSC at another institution, according to Groves's report. The two officers are no longer employed with CSC. The Crown declined to pursue the charges — a decision EPS challenged twice, asking the executive director of specialized prosecutions for a review, then escalating it again to the province's ACPS division assistant deputy minister. "In our view, the evidence meets the threshold of a 'reasonable likelihood of conviction' and the public interest clearly favours the prosecution of charges for this incident," then-interim EPS chief Kevin Brezinski wrote to the government official. But each time, the decision was not to prosecute, citing insufficient evidence for a conviction. Regan was later among five Edmonton Institution inmates who sued prison guards, the warden and the federal government, alleging abuse. The lawsuit was settled out of court, but settlement details aren't known due to a non-disclosure agreement. CSC, province reviewing inquiry recommendations Another CSC disciplinary investigation looked into allegations of serious misconduct by some of the staff at the Edmonton Institution from 2014 to 2017. In the final report, correctional officers who were interviewed spoke about knowing of a "fight club" that involved "allowing two rival gang members out to fight." But the documents disclosed to the fatality inquiry were "so heavily redacted as to be of limited assistance," Groves wrote. The judge also didn't have access to all the disclosure related to the EPS "Project Max" investigation, which she said shouldn't be separated from the specific police review of Montgrand's death. In addition to the call for a public inquiry, Groves concludes her report with a recommendation for a CSC policy directive "mandating that all CSC employees have a duty to report any staff behaviour they are aware of, that contravenes policy directives, when such behaviour could cause harm to an inmate or other CSC staff." The service is reviewing the fatality inquiry findings, according to a CSC spokesperson. Policies and training initiatives have been specifically updated for safety and security at the Edmonton Institution in the 14 years since Montgrand's death, the spokesperson said in a statement. There's also now a confidential tip line for CSC employees to report concerns about misconduct, the spokesperson said. Heather Jenkins, the press secretary for Alberta Justice Minister Mickey Amery, said the province is considering the recommendation for a public inquiry, but no decisions have been made. The government and CSC have until July 7 to submit an official response to Groves's recommendations.
