Jail guard targeted in Project South alleged murder plot accused of overseeing abusive practices

The senior corrections officer targeted in an alleged murder plot that sparked the Project South probe into police corruption defended his work at Toronto South Detention Centre in court Thursday in response to allegations that he oversaw abusive practices and threatened inmates.

The allegations come from current inmate Joshua James Malcolm-Evans, who has already pleaded guilty to gun-trafficking charges unrelated to the Project South investigation.

Malcolm-Evans has filed a Charter application arguing his rights have been violated by the jail, and he is looking for a shorter sentence or stay of proceedings in his case. 

In his affidavit, Malcolm-Evans alleges the senior corrections officer regularly visited his range to search cells for contraband and would personally “throw inmates’ property into garbage, damage books, mix belongings within the cell … and take away clothes and blankets.”

He also alleges the jail guard oversaw improper strip searches, told him inmates have no rights and set him up to be charged with possession of a weapon. 

“To this day I am deeply traumatized by my experience,” wrote Malcolm-Evans, who’s been held at the Toronto jail since February 2024.

“I am no longer the same man I was when I entered TSDC. They have broken me.”

In Ontario’s Superior Court in Toronto on Thursday, Crown prosecutor Moiz Karimjee asked the jail guard if he followed the law in relation to all of his dealings with Malcolm-Evans. 

“One hundred per cent,” replied the senior corrections officer, who testified behind a temporary wall put up in the courtroom to protect his identity, which is also covered by a publication ban. 

The jail guard went on to acknowledge that strip searches are uncomfortable, but a necessary “measure of last resort” to ensure safety, and staff try to do them “in a very empathetic manner.” 

Jail guard speaks publicly

This is the first time the senior corrections officer has spoken publicly since York Regional Police announced details of its sweeping, months-long investigation into corruption and organized crime, which began with the alleged attempt on the guard’s life in June 2025.

Seven Toronto police officers, one retired constable and 19 civilians are facing charges in Project South. 

In an affidavit, the jail guard denies all of the inmate’s allegations against him, writing that his “interactions with staff and inmates have always been professional, polite and pro social,” that he ensures “that inmates are always treated fairly” and he’s “always been transparent about the reasons for actions taken.”

The senior corrections officer admits to removing clothes and blankets from cells in accordance with the jail’s policies. 

The affidavit also sheds light on the senior corrections officer’s ongoing concerns for his own safety in the year since the alleged attempts on his life.

Roughly a month-and-a-half before the alleged murder plot was stopped by police, the jail guard says Malcolm-Evans told him “just wait and see what happens, you have no idea who you’re messing with.”

‘Profound impact’

“I am concerned about the proximity of what I perceive as a threat by Malcolm-Evans on April 30th, 2025, to the subsequent attempts on my life in June of 2025, potential involvement of organized crime, and a police officer being bribed to leak my home address to those wanted to kill me, because of my work …  at Toronto South Detention Centre, where I conducted myself consistently and professionally,” wrote the jail guard in his affidavit. 

“Although a year has passed since the incident, it continues to have a profound impact on me and requiring vigilance concerning my safety.”

While investigating that alleged murder plot, York police discovered that Toronto police Const. Timothy Barnhardt had allegedly shared confidential information about the senior correctional officer with a civilian, Brian Da Costa. Police have accused Da Costa of providing that information to others charged in the alleged conspiracy.

The charges against Barnhardt, who police described as the “genesis” of the investigation, and Da Costa have not been tested in court. Both men remain in custody. 

Last week, a publication ban was partially lifted on an Information to Obtain (ITO) application supporting more than 50 warrants in the Project South police investigation.

The ITO, sworn by a police officer in early February, revealed that an inmate and a correctional officer at TSDC were investigated for potential involvement in the alleged plot to kill the senior corrections officer at the jail, but the pair have not been charged in Project South.

Malcolm-Evans is not the inmate subject to investigation in the ITO. His Charter application continues to be argued in Superior Court.