BC

Photo: The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Photo shows a cell shared by serial killer Michael McGray and his victim, Jeremy Phillips which was released to media as an evidence exhibit at a B.C. Coroner's inquest, Tuesday, Oct.30, 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-B.C. Coroner's Court

Prisons across the country should consider housing multiple murderers in their own cells and allow dangerous offenders to jump the cue for their own sleeping quarters, says a coroner's jury that examined the death of an inmate by his sociopathic cell mate.

The jury that probed the cold-blooded killing of Jeremy Phillips by convicted serial killer Michael McCray two years ago has made five recommendations aimed at improving prison safety to prevent similar future death.

"Give careful consideration that (recommendations) are both reasonable and practical," coroner Vincent Stancato instructed the three men and two women who heard two days of testimony about the calculated slaying.

Less than 24 hours after the November 2010 crime, McGray confessed to police he tied the younger inmate up in strips of bedsheets, shoved a thick sock down his throat and strangled him for five minutes.

The pair had been sharing the sleeping quarters for only a week, and in his rambling confession, McGray blamed his crime on federal Corrections officials for moving him into a medium-security prison.

The inquest heard that while the 45-year-old had voluntarily applied for the transfer from BC's only high-security prison, he had twice refused the move after learning he would be double-bunked.

He was on a waitlist for his own cell when he committed the murder, which he told police was an inevitable consequence of his mental health issues that stirred fantasies of stacking bodies.