A man smokes marijuana during a gathering to welcome back marijuana advocate Marc Emery in Windsor, Ontario
A man smokes marijuana outside Windsor City Hall during a gathering to welcome back marijuana advocate Marc Emery (not seen) who is released from an American prison for selling marijuana seeds in the U.S., in Windsor, Ontario August 12, 2014. Emery jailed for five years in a U.S. federal prison for shipping marijuana seeds across the border returned to his homeland on Tuesday, as laws regulating the drug in both countries have slowly been relaxed. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook

A Canadian criminal, convicted of raping and killing a two-year-old toddler, was murdered in prison.

Duane Edward Taylor, the 53-year-old Canadian rapist, was convicted 33 years ago after he had been held guilty for raping and killing little April Marie Morrison in Ontario. Nearly three decades after his crime, he was found dead in his cell. He was apparently killed in the Manitoba prison where he was held.

The staff members at the Stony Mountain Institution reportedly failed to save Taylor even though they performed CPR. Although it has not been disclosed how exactly Taylor met with his death, the incident is being considered as a homicide. The investigation process has already been started. Taylor had been serving this sentence for an unspecified period since September, 1982. He was charged for first degree murder.

According to CTV News sources, Taylor was stabbed to death. He was reportedly in the mental health section of the prison. The Security Intelligence team along with the RCMP started the investigation process. The circumstances of the murder are going to be reviewed by the coroner and police.

Taylor, before having been convicted of the rape and murder, was also convicted of an attempted rape of another little girl aged four. He later admitted that he had molested numerous kids at playgrounds. He also confessed that he had killed little Morrison only after 11 days of his release from jail for earlier offences.

Taylor gave a graphic detail of the crime he committed on August 21, 1981. He explained how he convinced Morrison to go for a walk only to take her to his bedroom. According to Taylor's confession, he tried killing the little girl "by punching her in the throat." When she survived his initial attack, Taylor "sat back down on her head." "I stayed on her for about 20 minutes, when I got up she was dead. That's it," he confessed.

No one has been arrested in connection with the homicide of Taylor so far.

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@ibtimes.com.au