METCHOSIN, B.C.—The mother of a 10-year-old girl who was murdered by convicted child killer Shane Ertmoed says she is devastated after a Parole Board of Canada granted him unescorted short-term releases into the community.
Ertmoed, who was convicted in the 2000 murder of Heather Thomas, was granted unescorted temporary absences (UTAs) subject to certain restrictions by a federal parole board panel on Sept. 2. Following a hearing at the William Head Institution, a minimum security prison located south of Victoria, B.C., the panel concluded his community release plan sufficiently addressed concerns about managing his risk to the public.
The decision left Thomas’s mother, Jody Aspin, in tears….