The parole board rejects the killer’s wife’s request for temporary absences

The Parole Board of Canada has rejected Donald Wayne Campbell’s application for temporary unaccompanied absences.

Campbell, 71, was convicted of the first-degree murder in January 1998 of his wife, Fenny Campbell, 45, and was sentenced to life in prison with eligibility for parole after 25 year old.

A hearing was held Wednesday morning to consider the convicted felon’s request for three separate 72-hour absences, plus travel time.

Fenny’s younger brother Peter made one of seven victim impact statements. He said parole hearings, three in two years, felt like going through the trauma of the crime all over again.

“As a family we are in enormous pain, but we can’t even fully express ourselves and know how it will hit us next, it’s awful,” he said.

Fenny’s sister Rita told the parole board that his victims continue to be victimized by Don Campbell because he doesn’t get his way.

“Don is allowed to victimize us over and over again,” she said. “He is only concerned with his own well-being. He wants the freedom to do whatever he wants and go on with his life as if nothing happened. We as victims have been so hurt by him. I- he killed the only sister 26 years ago and I am scarred for life.”

Don’s son Joel, who was 18 at the time of his mother’s murder, gave a recorded statement to the parole board and said his father’s request for another hearing revictimized him.

“Since the last hearing I attended in May 2023, I have continued to be,” Joel said. “As I have stated, he remains the cold, mean, unrepentant and unchanged man he has been for the past 26 years. Ever since he brutally killed my mother, the pain of that moment will never go away, and he is the soul that causes it. it hasn’t changed.”

Joel’s sister Alicia said she will continue to fight for justice for her mother Fenny and her legacy.

“I will fight for her every day that I have breath in my lungs,” Alicia said. “However, I choose to do something that Don Campbell never did in his life, which is to put his family first. He never did that. He never thought of anyone but himself… No I’m going to stop appearing at these hearings I’m not going to stop participating as it matters and it’s a part of my life but it’s only a part, what Don has done and continues to do is taking over my life.”

A parole officer told the board that although Campbell continues to deny responsibility for his offending, risk indicators and professional assessments suggest his risk is manageable.

“Mr Campbell’s unremarkable behavior in the last years of his community ETA (Accompanied Temporary Absences) also suggests that his risk is indeed manageable within the structure of the proposed UTA (unaccompanied temporary absences) plans,” she said.

After more than four hours of hearing, the parole board said it decided not to authorize this UTA ​​package.

It said it continues to have concerns about transparency and accountability, leading to questions about risk.

Last summer, the Parole Board of Canada rejected his application for both unaccompanied temporary absences and parole.

Campbell was also denied a request for early parole in 2018.