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City biker charged with prison slaying 30 years ago

By: Mike McIntyre

Posted: 11/29/2012 1:53 PM | Last Modified: 11/29/2012 5:40 PM | Updates

Jeff Peck is prepared for his flight back to Ontario. (WINNIPEG FREE PRESS) Photo Store

A long-time Winnipeg biker has been charged with a 30-year-old slaying that happened inside an Ontario prison.

Jeffrey David Peck, 50, was arrested this week by city police. A second man, 50-year-old Robert Simpson, was also picked up by investigators while already in custody in Montreal.

Peck and Simpson are both charged with first-degree murder, indicating the crime was planned and pre-meditated.

Robert Frank Conroy, 19, was attacked in June 1982 while in custody at the Collins Bay Institution in Ontario. While in his cell block he suffered extensive injuries and and was rushed to Kingston General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

In a news release, the Ontario Provincial Police say a "Joint Forces Penitentiary Squad" comprised of investigators from OPP, RCMP AND Kingston Police Service had gathered enough evidence to lay charges. They were also assisted by police in Winnipeg and Montreal.

Simpson has been transferred to Kingston and is expected to make his first court appearance today. Peck is also being escorted to Ontario and will appear in court on Friday.

Peck is a well-known member of the Hells Angels in Manitoba. He last appeared in court in 2007, when he pleaded guilty to selling a kilogram of cocaine to an undercover agent as part of an elaborate police sting operation. Peck was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison.

No further details have been released by police at this time.