Catherine Carroll’s killer, Brian Doyle, has been granted six months of pre-release day parole in British Columbia.
“We’re devastated,” Carroll’s son, Greg Parsons, said Monday, adding he feels there was a coverup of what happened in the case and after the COVID-19 crisis is over, he will seek legal representation for a human rights violation.
“There’s no justice for my family in this goddamned province.”
The parole board noted that Doyle, who stabbed the St. John’s woman 53 times on New Year’s Day 1991, took a shower and got dressed as she lay on the floor bleeding.
He then allowed his friend at the time, Parsons, to be wrongfully convicted of the murder in 1994, until DNA evidence cleared Parsons in 1998.
Parsons said he feels violated — Doyle is said to be serving in “Club Fed,” the William Head Institution in B.C., which is surrounded on three sides by the Pacific Ocean, about 30 kilometres northwest of Victoria.
“Thank God for science and DNA. Without it, I would be sitting in jail, but I wouldn't be sitting in Wiliam Head prison, I can f---ing tell you,” Parsons said of his likely fate if not for DNA clearing his name.
Parsons hopes the world will hear his story.
About 12 years after the murder, Doyle confessed to an undercover police officer during a sting operation.
Based on a psychological risk assessment in February, Doyle’s risk to violently reoffend was rated in the moderate range.
His request for overnight leave was not authorized.
“Thank God for science and DNA. Without it, I would be sitting in jail, but I wouldn't be sitting in Wiliam Head prison, I can f---ing tell you.” - Greg Parsons
The parole board hearing was conducted by video — due to the COVID-19 pandemic — but there was no live stream allowing Parsons to participate remotely due to the board not having adequate technology for a secure connection.
The parole board’s written decision indicated during the hearing that Doyle became emotional following a review of Parson’s victim impact statement, and seemed to have genuine remorse.
But the board also said he had limited understanding of the sexual component of his offence, which is concerning.
“The board notes that you were sexually rejected by the victim on the night of the murder and reacted with rage and extreme violence,” the board said to Doyle.
Doyle had claimed that he had a casual sexual relationship with Carroll.
Among the restrictions on his day parole are that he not enter the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, nor have any contact with Carroll’s family.
He is also to follow mental-health counselling in the areas of personal/emotional orientation, reintegration issues and the sexual component of his offence, stay away from drugs and alcohol, and report all intimate and non-intimate relationships with females to his parole officer.
The parole board noted that Doyle in 1995 became involved in drug trafficking and eventually stole money from one of his accomplices. He fled to the United States for several years. In 1996 he was charged in California with possession of cocaine. While in the United States, he lived on the streets, associated with drug dealers and committed property crime. He was also arrested in New Mexico for a stolen vehicle, and spent time in remand before being deported to Ontario. After returning to Canada he continued to use drugs and associate with drug dealers and users.
Correctional Services Canada reported to the board that Doyle has 10 institutional charges on file.
In 2008, he was charged with muscling, threatening, and selling food and tobacco.
In 2009, he was found with a sharpened butter knife and a homemade wooden handle at the time of a serious inmate assault.
He was segregated and institutionally transferred as a result.
His last institutional charge was in 2014.
He received and maintained a minimum-security classification since 2015.
In June 2018, Doyle was granted escorted temporary absences to attend AA meetings.
@BarbSweetTweets
