Yukon man who killed wife and acquaintance dies in B.C. prison

The Matsqui Institution, a medium-security federal men's prison on the grounds of the Pacific Institution, is seen in Abbotsford, B.C., on Thursday October 26, 2017. Darcy Sidoruk, a former Fort Nelson resident has died in prison, 40 years after he was handed an indeterminate sentence for two second-degree murders.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

ABBOTSFORD — A man who began a shooting rampage by killing his ex-wife in her Faro, Yukon, home has died in prison just a few years after he began his life sentence.

Correctional Service Canada says 65-year-old Ralph Bernard Shaw, an inmate at the Pacific Institution in Abbotsford, B.C., has died in custody.

Court documents say Shaw went to his ex-wife’s new home and shot her, then wounded her partner by shooting him seven times as he tried to escape to a neighbour’s home.

The court decision released in November 2024 says Shaw then drove to an acquaintance’s home a few kilometres away and killed him.

Police caught up with the man as he was shooting up the house of another acquittance with his hunting rifle, and while his target wasn’t home, his wife was, although she was unhurt.

Shaw pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, second-degree murder and aggravated assault, and a Supreme Court of Yukon judge sentenced him to life in prison without chance of parole for 25 years for the most serious charge.

The service doesn’t say how Shaw died, but it will be reviewing the circumstances of his death and the coroner has been notified.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 25, 2026.