Transgender Murder Convict Denied Bid to Stay in Women’s Prison Following Threats to Inmates and Staff

A transgender prisoner serving time for the murder of a 13-year-old Edmonton girl has lost a court bid to stay in a women’s prison.

Michael Williams, who now goes by the name Michelle Autumn, was given a life sentence in 2007 for the first degree murder of the 13-year-old, who was lured from the West Edmonton Mall to a golf course, where she was sexually assaulted and then killed. Autumn was 17 years old at the time and was sentenced as an adult.

Autumn served time in men’s prisons for the “vast majority” of the sentence, but asked to be moved to the Grand Valley Institution for Women (GVIW) while serving time at Millhaven Institution, according to the Jan. 6 Ontario Superior Court of Justice decision.

The transfer was approved by a Correctional Service Canada’s Deputy Commissioner for Women in November 2024, despite the wardens of both prisons not being supportive of the move.

However, Autumn was moved back to Millhaven Institution on an emergency basis after an incident at the women’s prison in March 2025, where GVIW staff said Autumn had made threats to staff and other inmates. Autumn filed a legal challenge, saying the transfer “resulted in a deprivation of her residual liberty which was unlawful.”

The court challenge was opposed by Attorney General of Canada Sean Fraser as well as the wardens from both prisons.

Judge Kristin Muszynski dismissed Autumn’s application to return to the women’s prison.

“Even if I had concluded the Applicant’s involuntary transfer resulted in a loss of her residual liberty, given the evidentiary record before the court I am satisfied the decision to transfer the Applicant was reasonable and therefore lawful,” she wrote in her decision.

The court decision said that Autumn has been transferred among several prisons since being sentenced, “usually due to the Applicant’s extremely problematic behaviour” which Correctional Service Canada (CSC) says has been “difficult to manage in any population.”

Autumn was diagnosed with gender dysphoria in 2014 and served roughly six months in a women’s institution in 2017, but then requested to be moved back to a men’s prison.

Muszynski said “gender-based” accommodations were made for Autumn, no matter what prison was involved, including non-emergency medical escorts, frisks, strip searches, and security camera monitoring being performed by female staff. Autumn is also provided with a private toilet in the cell and access to a private shower each day.

Move to Women’s Prison

After being strip-searched upon arrival, Autumn, who is anatomically male, was placed in a pod where a female inmate said she was uncomfortable with Autumn’s presence at the facility. The concerns were able to be managed by jail staff, the court decision says, but Autumn’s response “was to threaten to assault or kill the other inmate if confronted again.”

Autumn was then placed alone in a double-occupancy cell as per protocol, according to the court documents.

A decision to move Autumn to a single-occupancy cell was made on March 10, 2025, but the court record states that Autumn was “being verbally resistant to the move.” It said Autumn “barricaded herself into a shared common room with a broken television remote control,” and attempted to use it as a weapon.

Autumn covered all security cameras in the room during the incident, and threatened self-harm and violence against other inmates and staff.

“Every attempt to speak with the Applicant, even to offer her food, was met with verbal assaults by the Applicant,” Muszynski wrote in the decision, adding Autumn justified the reaction “by alleging that she was fearful of being exposed to transphobia” if she was moved.

An emergency response team deployed a chemical irritant grenade into the common room and was able to restrain Autumn, according to the court decision.

Several staff reported that Autumn then said she was a man, and asked to return to Millhaven during the incident; however, Autumn denies making the statements.

Muszynski said it was “difficult” to reconcile Autumn’s denial of making the statements “when numerous CSC staff reported hearing her make these comments.”

Return to Millhaven

Autumn was subsequently transferred back to Millhaven on an emergency, involuntary basis. The court notes that during the drive back to the men’s prison, Autumn was “highly agitated, refusing to sit down, screaming verbal abuse at staff and urinating in the vehicle.”

A psychological risk assessment for Autumn noted that “risk factors for future violence are high and the ongoing behavioural issues in the institution support this assessment.”

The assessment said that Autumn “demonstrated a requirement” for a highly structured environment, with “constant and direct supervision” over individual or group interaction.

The assessment also noted that Autumn “proved to be of great concern when attempting to have them integrate to the more open environment of a women’s institution,” and that the transfer to Millhaven was “deemed necessary to ensure the safety of the institution.”

The court decision said Autumn argues there was not enough time to “integrate” into the women’s jail before being transferred back to Millhaven.