After serving 15 years of a life sentence for the murder of an oil executive on his property northwest of Olds, Eifion Wyn (Wayne) Roberts has been granted full parole.
The Parole Board of Canada decided on Sept. 18 to grant Roberts, who is now 69, full parole effective Oct. 3, 15 years to the day after he shot Patrick Kent, vice-president of KB Resources Inc., five times on his property in the Garrington area of Red Deer County.
A special condition imposed on Roberts when on full parole is to avoid all contact with the victim's family.
According to its written decision, the board felt Roberts was at low risk of offending again upon release based on reports from psychologists and staff at a halfway house and because he was “functioning well under community supervision for approximately 13 months” while on day parole, which he was granted in August 2012.
He also had no record of criminal activity prior to the shooting.
The decision also states Roberts was attending support groups while incarcerated as well as an anger management program and had used the “guidance of Aboriginal Elders” during his sentence.
In the most recent years of his sentence, Roberts attended school, found employment as a welder and has spent “leisure time” with his wife Jean while out of prison on day parole or on escorted and unescorted temporary absences.
Jean told the Olds Albertan she had “no comment” on the matter when reached at her place of employment on Sept. 27.
On Oct. 3, 1998, Kent attended Roberts' property, at Roberts' request, with a crew to clean up environmental contamination around an oil well.
KB Resources had a surface lease for the well on Roberts' farm.
The board's decision states Roberts was supervising the progress of the cleanup crew when he went into his house.
“When your victim approached the house to take measurements, you came out of the house with a handgun and shot him five times,” the decision reads. “You then instructed your wife to call police.”
An older board decision on a request from Roberts for a temporary absence from incarceration states Roberts continued to shoot Kent in the head after he had already fallen to the ground.
Roberts was convicted of second-degree murder in November 2000 and sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 15 years.
He began serving his sentence on Jan. 12, 2001, and Roberts' appeal of his sentence was dismissed by the Supreme Court of Canada after a hearing in 2004.
The sentencing judge described Roberts as “a highly volatile and easily angered man who was quick to anger and quick to resort to the use of firearms to deal with those who crossed him or did not do what he wanted.”
“He is a dangerous man.”
At the hearing for full parole, Roberts accepted full responsibility for his actions, the decision states.
“You said you had alternatives at the time such as locking the door and not answering it, and calling the police.”
The board also heard that Roberts had killed Kent “out of fear” and he had described Kent as “being controlling and inconsiderate.”
“You said he was a much bigger man than you and you felt threatened at that time,” the decision states.
When asked if he was sorry for what he did, Roberts told the board he was.
The board has raised some concerns about Roberts in a number of decisions regarding parole or temporary absences from prison dating back to October 2010 when it denied one of Roberts' first requests for day parole.
In its decision on full parole, the board noted that Roberts has struggled with “acceptable” ways of communicating with others and his parole officer indicated she was worried that Roberts “may be working too much.”
“The Board sees a need for better work/life balance to make time for things you claim are important to you such as spirituality, cultural guidance, and leisure time.”
Although he had served the first part of his sentence in a maximum-security prison, Roberts was transferred to medium and minimum-security settings.
An incident in 2005 where Roberts became “agitated” during a case conference, however, resulted in him being transferred from a minimum-security to a medium-security facility.
And in 2008, although he was classified as a minimum-security offender, he was not accepted for transfer to a number of minimum-security facilities because he would not participate in psychiatric or psychological assessments at the time.
The Albertan contacted several people who live near to the property where the Robertses reside but no one wished to comment on Roberts' upcoming parole.
