Killing over spilled milk: High-risk pedophile pleads guilty to manslaughter of 67-year-old behind bars

Convicted U.S. pedophile pleads guilty to killing man who he was caring for but who started harassing him

Philipe Ovid Poisson and Dennis James Harley have sordid criminal histories in British Columbia and both have spent the vast majority of their adult lives behind bars.

Poisson was labelled a high-risk pedophile in the U.S. and was serving time for making a series of bad decisions. He has a lengthy record, did some bad things, and he almost certainly has a range of psychological problems.

Harley was a belligerent inmate of the highest order. The 67-year-old turned a three-year sentence for identity fraud and public mischief into 19 years behind bars by uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm numerous times from behind bars. Harley sent threatening letters to judges, members of parliament, police forces, parole officers, government officials, and even victims he had met through chaplaincy while incarcerated, according to a parole board decision.

At maximum security Kent Institution, Poisson and Harley were housed in a therapeutic unit for inmates with extra needs. Poisson's "extra needs" weren't explained in courtroom 205 on Wednesday (June 18, 2025), but Harley's were. He had a fatty liver, diabetes, hypertension, back pain, and he was using a walker as a medical device, and Poisson helped Harley.

"Mr. Poisson acted as a caregiver to Mr. Harley," the court was told. "Mr. Poisson spent a significant part of his day playing cards with him, attending chapel."

However, Harley was prone to angry outbursts at Poisson and other inmates.

In the days leading up to the killing, Harley called Poisson a "skinner" repeatedly, a street term of derision used for pedophiles. He also threatened to stab Poisson.

On July 18, 2024, Harley was moving throughout the unit with his walker. Video evidence showed him in conversation with Poisson at one point. Poisson left, Harley went and got a cup of milk and returned to watch TV. There was more coming and going, words exchanged, and then at one point Poisson exited his cell with a tray and a cup and splashed the liquid on Harley.

"He told him to leave him alone because he had been yelling at him for three days," the court heard.

Minutes later, Harley was seen walking to the common area with a beige cup and approached Poisson who was at the microwave. Harley tossed his cup of milk on Poisson from behind. Harley turned around to walk away, but that was the last piece of abuse Poisson was going to take.

The much younger man struck Harley on the top of the head. He fell to the ground and Poisson then delivered a blow to the back of Harley's head then kicked him in the right temple with his bare foot, according to an agreed statement of facts between Crown counsel and Poisson's lawyer Jenna Paik.

The commotion prompted at least one inmate to come to Harley assistance, shortly after which corrections officers started showing up. Less than two hours later Harley was dead.

Poisson pleaded guilty in Chilliwack provincial court on Wednesday, June 19, 2025. He appeared via video from the only super-maximum facility in Canada, the special handling unit (SHU) in Quebec.

The court heard that after the killing, Poisson provided a statement to members of the RCMP's Integrated Homicide Investigation Unit saying that he felt bad about it. He wished Harley did not die, and not because of the consequences he would face "but because he deserved to live."

A Canadian citizen, Poisson is originally from Pennsylvania. In July 2010, Mounties issued a public safety bulletin about him as a high-risk pedophile who moved to Penticton. In January 2011, he fled a place where he was required to live.

“He is from Pennsylvania and he was hoping to be able to go back and hook up with his mother again,” defence lawyer Jim Pennington said in a Feb. 15, 2011 news article. “He received some advice from a source we will not name that what he should do is go to the coast, obtain ID and get back to the States. He then acted on that bad advice.”

Two years later he got in trouble for being creepy towards kids at a Junior A hockey game in Dryden, Ontario. He then gave police a fake name and later threatened to kill them. Poisson was wanted on a Canadawide warrant at the time and was charged with five counts of failure to comply, obstructing a police officer, and uttering threats.

In advance of sentencing for the homicide at Kent, there will be a pre-sentence report with a psychological component prepared. A next court date was scheduled for August.  

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Paul J. Henderson
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