Police catch inmates who escaped Ontario prison by simply walking away

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Two elderly inmates who walked away from an unfenced minimum-security prison in Ontario have been caught after just one day of freedom.

On Feb. 19, during the 6:30 p.m. inmate count, two staff members at the Beaver Creek Institution in Gravenhurst, found that two inmates were missing from the minimum-security unit: Jay Sedore, who is serving an indeterminate sentence for first-degree murder, and Michael Karas, who is serving a 15-year sentence for robbing four banks in Toronto and Waterloo with a fake firearm.

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Their escape was surprisingly simple.

“It’s not like they had to jump a fence. They just went unaccounted for at the evening count,” Mike Shrider, regional communications manager for Correctional Service Canada, told Orillia Matters. The inmates “would have completed their school and their work. They are at a lower risk to the community and a lower risk to escape, but of course, you can’t always predict that.”

Beaver Creek is a multi-level security federal institution that includes a minimum-security site with small group houses.

“On the minimum side, there is actually no perimeter fence and the inmates go in and out of the building for jobs around the institution. Most guys in minimum are working in the institution as cleaners or doing different programs. There are no farms at Beaver Creek, but there are farms at Joyceville and Collins Bay minimum-security institutions,” Schrider said.

“They are just expected to be back for the count times. There is a count in the morning, a count in the afternoon and a count in the evening. They were not accounted for at the evening count.”

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Both Sedore and Karas were located in a Toronto Hotel shortly before 8 p.m. on Feb. 20 by the Muskoka Crime Unit, with assistance from Repeat Offender Parole Enforcement (ROPE) and Toronto Police Service. They had been spotted on video surveillance leaving the prison at about 1 pm on Feb. 19. They were at large for around 31 hours.

Sedore is 70 years old. Karas is 68 years old. According to the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), Karas has tattoos of a cross on his upper right arm and the grim reaper on his torso.

Sedore is said to have ties to Gravenhurst, while Karas has ties to both Toronto and British Colombia. The pair would have escaped into cold temperatures, around minus 13 degrees Celsius.

Sedore was found guilty of murder in 1991 for killing Ted Pante in his sleep. He was arrested two days after the crime while travelling east from Thunder Bay. When he testified, he said that he had no recollection of shooting the deceased and stated that he had a history of blackouts.

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Sedore later attempted an appeal in 1993, but it was dismissed.

Karas has a history of crime going back to 1981 when he was first convicted for robbery. According to the Toronto Sun, he would spend time in and out of prison until he eventually moved to Thailand. He was in a relationship with a woman there named Suwannee Ratanaprakorn, who was found dead and dismembered on Sept. 24, 1996.

Karas fled back to Canada where he was eventually arrested. After a long legal battle, he was extradited to Thailand to face trial in 2011. In March 2012, he pleaded guilty to “offence against life,” which is equivalent to first-degree murder, and was sentenced to 25 years, the Toronto Sun reported. In 2013, he applied to transfer to a Canadian prison, claiming he’d snapped his partner’s neck in self-defence. His sentence was eventually reduced and he returned to Ontario in 2017. He did not stay out of prison for long and in 2020 was sentenced for the four robberies with fake firearms.

The OPP said on X that both Sedore and Karas fled from prison in a grey or silver sedan. The message also reminded civilians that both inmates have a history of violent crimes, and urged people to not approach them.

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The OPP Bracebridge detachment also released a statement about this incident. “Members of the public are encouraged to be vigilante and report any suspicious activity to Bracebridge OPP,” they wrote.

When asked why inmates like Sedore and Karas were being kept in a minimum-security unit given the serious nature of their offenses, Shrider told National Post that in order to help offenders become law-abiding citizens, CSC gradually moves them from higher- to lower-security institutions.These reclassifications of security levels are made using “evidence-based assessment instruments,” as well as professional judgment by specialized staff members and psychological assessments.

“CSC regularly reassesses offenders, normally at least once every two years, to ensure they are in institutions of the appropriate security level. CSC can also review an offender’s security level outside established timeframes if there is an increase and/or decrease in risk,” Shrider said in an emailed statement.

Shrider also said that in recent years, CSC has strengthened the requirements for when an offender is considered for reclassification to minimum-security, and that inmates who escape can be subject to a review of their classification or additional charges.

CSC and Beaver Creek Institution are still investigating the circumstances surrounding the escape.

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