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Murderer and sexual assailant dies while housed at Pacific Institution in Abbotsford

William Roy Tame was serving indeterminate sentence for 1986 Calgary killing
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Pacific Institution in Abbotsford. (Abbotsford News file photo)

An inmate from Pacific Institution in Abbotsford who has been serving an an indeterminate sentence for first-degree murder and sexual assault has died.

Correctional Service Canada (CSC) released the information Friday (Feb. 18), saying that William Roy Tame died of apparent natural causes on Feb. 15.

He had been in custody since Oct. 10, 1986, after being convicted of killing 20-year-old hairdressing student Brenda McClenaghan in Edmonton outside a bar.

ALSO SEE: Serial killer housed at Abbotsford’s Pacific Institution dies of natural causes

According to news reports, Tame attacked McClenaghan in January 1986 as she was getting into her car. He pushed her onto the passenger side, took the wheel and left the parking lot. Tame drove to a dark spot in the city, where he repeatedly sexually assaulted her before killing her.

McClenaghan was missing for two weeks before being found by a man walking his dog.

Tame had previously served a 10-year jail term for a 1971 rape in Manitoba.

CSC says, as in all cases involving the death of an inmate, they will review the circumstances. CSC policy requires that the police and the coroner be notified.



vhopes@abbynews.com

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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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