The Alberta court upheld the appeals of four convicted multiple murderers, giving them every opportunity to apply for parole after serving 25 years.
On Friday, in three separate cases, the Alberta Court of Appeals ruled that Derek Sarecki, Edward Downey, Joshua Frank and Jason Klaus would have their sentences commuted so that parole periods could run simultaneously.
The appellate court’s decisions mean that the four men may be entitled to parole at an earlier date – compared to the parole dates that were originally served on them when they were convicted.
The decisions follow a ruling by Canada’s Supreme Court in May, which ruled that Alexander Bisonet, the gunman who killed six men at a mosque in Quebec in 2017, would be allowed to apply for parole after 25 years.
Canada’s Supreme Court has found unconstitutional sentencing rules that allow judges to grant successive parole periods.
The Supreme Court said the sentences “tarnished the reputation of justice” and were “cruel and unusual in nature”.
The possibility of applying for parole does not mean that he will be granted, and a life sentence means that the offender will be either in prison or for life.
Sarecki, a former resident of Blairmore, Alta, was convicted in 2017 of three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Terry Blanchett in 2015, his two-year-old daughter Hailey Dunbar-Blanchett and neighbor Hane Meketek, 69.
Sarecki was initially sentenced to 22 years in prison for life, with no chance of seeking parole until he was 97 years old.
His lawyer, Balfour Der, said the reduced lack of the right to parole allowed Sarecki to apply for parole when he was 47 years old.
“There is a big difference between a 22-year-old and a 47-year-old and a lot of maturation can continue between them. So now he has something to live for. There is some hope,” Der said.
“It gives him a chance to improve, to rehabilitate, to do what he can, to become a productive citizen in the hope that he can be released early.”
Klaus and Frank were sentenced to life in prison on three counts of first-degree murder after the bodies of Klaus’ father and sister were found in their burned-out country house near Red Deer, Altai, in 2013. His mother’s body thus and was not found.
Edward Downey received a life sentence after a jury convicted him of first-degree murder in the deaths of Sarah Bailey and her daughter Talia Marsman, 5, who were killed on July 11, 2016.
All three men were halved on parole from 50 to 25 years.
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