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Killer of Calgary man dies while in B.C. prison

Bradley Koester sentenced in 1984 for murder of Frank Vervoort
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Pacific Institution in Abbotsford

Correctional Service Canada (CSC) is reporting that an inmate has died while in custody at Pacific Institution Regional Treatment Centre in Abbotsford.

A press release states that Bradley Wade Koester died Monday (May 27). He was serving an indeterminate sentence, which began April 26, 1984, for second-degree murder.

CSC says Koester’s next of kin have been notified. The agency did not release his cause of death.

“As in all cases involving the death of an inmate, the Correctional Service of Canada will review the circumstances. CSC policy requires that the coroner be notified,” the release states.

Court documents indicate that Koester fatally stabbed Frank Vervoort, 52, in the back on Oct. 20, 1983 in Calgary while Koester’s wife and two-year-0ld daughter were in the house.

Following the murder, Koester robbed Vervoort, took his truck and used it to drive with his wife and daughter to Lytton, B.C., where his brother lived and where he was soon arrested.

Koester received a life sentence with parole eligibility set at 10 years.

ALSO SEE: 188 inmates died in B.C. prisons over last decade, coroner reports

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Vikki Hopes

About the Author: Vikki Hopes

I have been a journalist for almost 40 years, and have been at the Abbotsford News since 1991.
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