EXCLUSIVE: Convicted Toronto murderer looks for love on the outside

By Cristina Howorun

Many dating sites are targeting specific groups based on age, religion and relationship goals but one website has the market cornered on an oft-overlooked and lonely segment of the dating pool — convicts.

Every profile listed on Canadian Inmates Connect Inc. (CICI) includes the same basic information you’d expect on a dating site including home town, physical stats, likes and dislikes — and some extra information you don’t expect — like a “convicted of” section.

“I’m very hopeful and positive and I still have a lot to offer, even though I’m locked up for a daring helicopter escape,” reads the profile of Benjamin Hudow – Barbeau —  a maximum security prisoner, convicted of first-degree murder- and a “daring” helicopter escape from a provincial jail. He won’t be out for 35 years to life.

 

 

The site also lists Justin Bourque — the Moncton man convicted of killing three RCMP officers and wounding two others in a 2014 shooting rampage — who describes himself as a” blue collar dude with a passion for music.” He isn’t expected to be released for another 70 years.

 

CICI gained some notoriety when notorious killer Luka Magnotta posted a profile on the site.

In 2014, Magnotta was convicted of killing and dismembering a Chinese international student and mailing his body parts to schools and political offices. He’s since had his profile removed from the site, claiming he found what he was looking for.

Magnotta is not alone. Scrolling though the site, you’ll read dozens of testimonials from inmates and their partners, saying that the site helped them find “the one.”

Mark Moore, the Toronto man convicted of gunning down four men in three separate incidents in 2010, however, is still looking and his profile is very active.

In an exclusive interview with CityNews from Millhaven Maximum Security Institution, Moore says he’s received “a lot of responses.”

“I don’t think I’ve found what I’m looking for yet,” he adds.

The aspiring hiphop artist, with the stage name of Preezidenteeh, boasts that he’s “handsome, chimerical and elegant, standing 6 feet 1 inch, with a Burberry complexion,” and that he “keeps [his] body on sexy in the yard bench pressin.”

 

Moore has been sentenced to life behind bars, but he believes he will be out much sooner.

“I am leaving prison that’s the truth. I’m convinced about that,” he says.

Moore maintains he is innocent and plans on appealing his convictions. While he knows he won’t be released in the immediate future, he believes he has a lot to offer as a potential suitor.

“I bring a whole lot. I bring heaven to the table,” he tells CityNews from the Kingston-area prison. “I bring love plus love plus love — quadruple love … I bring true love, true trust, true security, true genuineness. I bring what a man is supposed to bring to a woman.”

A perusal through the site shows that most inmates are serving hard time in federal institutions, although there are a handful who have posted profiles from provincial jails in Hamilton and Ottawa. Inmates pay $35 a year for their profile and most submit their funds and application via mail — internet access isn’t allowed at jails and prisons. People who are interested in the inmates have to send their messages via snail mail, something Moore says he gets plenty of.

“There are a variety of different women writing me right now,” he says. But many he says they are too forward with sexual promises. “I’m like — you don’t even know me, what are you talking about?”

“I just want to be like a regular citizen of society. I want to maintain a job. I want to continue my college. I was to proceed with my music career and [be] more versatile with sending a message to the youth growing up today,” Moore explains. “ I want to get married , I want kids, I want a dog and a house. I want to never go back to Toronto ever in my life.”

“I want to change myself … I want to be a different person. I don’t want to get caught up  in nonsense.  Look, I’m doing time right now for stuff I didn’t even do because possibly being around the wrong individuals,” he adds.

Moore was sentenced to four life sentences, on top of already being sentenced to 16 years for various firearm offences and 12 years for robbery — but despite the multiple convictions, he remains optimistic.

“I believe that what happens in the dark always comes to light. I believe in our justice system and I believe that sometimes people make unjust decisions.”

Top Stories

Top Stories

Most Watched Today