Nathaniel Jessup, 30, is charged with the second-degree murder of Dylan Levi Judd, who was found deceased in his prison cell at Kamloops Regional Correctional Centre on Nov. 10, 2014.
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February 16, 2018 - 2:18 PM
KAMLOOPS - It's been more than three years since Dylan Levi Judd was found unresponsive in his Kamloops prison cell, but his alleged killer was only charged this week.
Nathaniel David Jessup, 30, is charged with second degree murder in connection to the death of Judd, 20, who was found dead in his Kamloops Regional Correctional Centre prison cell on Nov. 10, 2014.
This is far from Jessup's first time before the courts. According to online documents, he's been convicted of offences dating back to 2006 including aggravated assault, mischief, possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose, being unlawfully at large, assaulting a peace officer, and theft.
Court documents show Jessup's aliases include Nathan Christie and Jessie McCullen.
According to the Vancouver Sun, Jessup was sentenced to just under three-and-a-half years in prison in 2017 for choking a young boy and attempting to abduct a young girl. At the time of his sentencing, he had already served the majority of his sentence and had less than one year until he was released.
Other offences of his range across B.C. communities, including Cranbrook and Creston, and last year he was ordered to stand trial on Vancouver Island for an alleged assault in Saanich, however it's not clear if or when the matter went to trial. It's not known if he has a criminal record elsewhere in Canada.
The 30-year-old Jessup was arrested and charged earlier this week, nearly three-and-a-half years after Judd's death.
In Kamloops Provincial Court today, Feb. 16, Jessup appeared by video while defence lawyer Jeremy Jensen and Crown prosecutor Chris Balison appeared in the room.
Balison asked for the matter to go over for a couple of weeks until he can provide the case's disclosure documents to Jensen.
Dylan Levi Judd.
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Jensen told the court that he wants to be provided the disclosure documents as soon as possible, as police have had time to gather evidence and documents. He said it's not like the incident happened recently and police are "scrambling" to get all of the documents together.
"In this case, the police here had almost all of the material and they've had it for at least a couple years now," Jensen said.
Jessup's matter has been put off until next month, when Balison hopes to have provided the disclosure to Jensen.
When the investigation into Judd's death first began, the B.C. Coroners Service originally took the lead and an inquest into Judd's death was set.
But as the investigation progressed, RCMP took over and there is now no date for the inquest, and it's not clear if it will still be held.
The accusations against Jessup have not been proven in court.
Judd's adoptive mother has previously been vocal about the lack of information surrounding her son's death.
For more coverage on Judd's death and the investigation, go here.
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