After making a second bid for parole Wednesday morning, the Parole Board of Canada made a decision for one of the men convicted in connection to the 2005 killings of four RCMP officers outside of Mayerthorpe in 2005.
On Wednesday, the Parole Board of Canada granted Shawn Hennessey unescorted temporary passes – meaning that once each month for six months, he will be allowed to leave prison for up to 72 hours.
During his absences, Hennessey is only allowed to go to one location, his family home near Barrhead.
The decision came after a hearing at Bowden Institution earlier Wednesday morning.
During the hearing, Hennessey admitted full responsibility for his actions – saying he could have chosen to report that he had given James Roszko a ride to his farm near Mayerthorpe, where four RCMP officers were attacked by him on the property hours later, early March 3, 2005.
“This is all at my hands. The way I chose to lead my life…the decisions I made not to come forward,” Hennessey said during the hearing.
Prior to the shooting, the four officers – identified as Constables Brock Myrol, Peter Schiemann, Anthony Gordon and Leo Johnston – were staking out a marijuana grow-op and auto chop shop, that had been discovered on Roszko’s property.
Roszko killed himself, after he was shot by another RCMP officer who had just arrived at the scene.
Hennessey had previously appeared before the parole board in April 2012, that request was denied.
Shawn Hennessey’s statutory release is set for December, 2015 – he was initially sentenced to serve 15 years in prison in January, 2009, but his sentence was reduced to 10 years, four months, and 15 days due to his guilty plea and time he spent in pretrial custody.
His co-accused, brother-in-law Dennis Cheeseman was released in November, 2013 after serving two-thirds of his sentence.
Cheeseman was sentenced to serve 12 years behind bars, but that was also later reduced to seven years, two months and 15 days.
With files from David Ewasuk
