A day after the news broke that a mother convicted of drowning her two young sons could be released as early as Thursday – CTV News has learned officials will review her case Friday.
On Wednesday, Allyson McConnell’s former husband Curtis issued a public statement, saying he was ‘appalled’ his former wife, and mother of his two slain children, was eligible for early parole.
Curtis McConnell issued another statement Thursday – saying some of his questions had been answered on recent developments in the case, but he questioned the lack of information he received form justice officials.
“Why has the Justice department felt a need to leave me, my family and the Canadian public in the dark with what was going on with the Allyson (Meager) McConnell case? Why was there a need to keep this quiet? As the father of two murdered children I think I deserve a phone call explaining what is going on. To this day I am still waiting for that phone call. It is a shame that victims of crime must struggle to obtain information like this. Changes need to be made to prevent circumstances like this,” McConnell said.
On Thursday, the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada said they had scheduled a 48 hour detention review for Friday, to decide if she will remain in custody until she’s deported to Australia, her home country.
Until then, McConnell remains at Alberta Hospital; she’s in the custody of the Canadian Border Service Agency under a deportation order.
The order was issued when McConnell was sentenced in the summer of 2012 for the drowning deaths of her young sons: 10-month-old Jayden and 2-year-old Connor in early 2010.
In her trial, McConnell admitted to drowning the two little boys in the bathtub of her Millet home – but testified she couldn’t remember anything about the events of that weekend.
She was convicted of manslaughter, after her original second-degree murder charges were downgraded.
McConnell was sentenced to six years for each charge – to be served concurrently, but she also received two-for-one credit for time already served, so she was expected to be in custody for 15 months, and eligible for early release in 10 months.
The province said Wednesday that her time was considered served as of Thursday – as she’s been on good behaviour for two-thirds of her sentence.
The province is fighting to keep McConnell in Canada, as two appeals in the case are ongoing – one for the sentence McConnell received, the other is for the acquittals on the more serious charges of second-degree murder.
"Right now we're looking for any legal way we can do it," Alberta Justice spokesperson Josh Stewart said. "We have also asked the federal government if they can help us in keepnig her here until the appeals are heard."
It’s not clear when she could be sent back to Australia.
With files from Bill Fortier
