MONTREAL – It’s something many of us take for granted: drinking a glass of water.
For Walter Filipas, it’s isn’t so simple.
It’s taken him two decades to properly swallow again.
The former Montreal police officer has numerous physical problems with pretty much every one of his senses, including his vision, his hearing and his sense of smell.
Filipas has not been the same since May 22, 1993 – the day he was shot twice in the face by Claude Forget.
On that spring day, Filipas remembers he and his partner Lucy Krasowski were in their patrol car in Dorchester Square looking for a suspect in a robbery, when they were approached by a man.
“He put a 9-millimetre gun right to my face right here,” Filipas said pointing to his right cheek.
“He took his first shot under my right eye and it came out a quarter of an inch near my spinal cord.”
The bullets travelled through Filipas’ face and struck his partner.
Forget then stole the officer’s gun and fired a third shot into Krasowski’s leg.
Incredibly, both officers survived the attack.
“We were really at the wrong place, at the wrong time,” Filipas told Global News.
“It was unprovoked.”
Forget was arrested a few weeks later. He was later convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison, a sentence that expires next month.
According to the crown prosecutors’ office, Forget is scheduled to be released from a Quebec prison on April 26.
Filipas and his wife are now worried for their safety.
“Who can trust him after what he did 20 years ago?” Filipas’ wife said.
“Can you trust him?”
Fearing for her safety, she has asked for her identity to be concealed.
A spokesperson with the Parole Board of Canada told Global News that Claude Forget will not be under special surveillance upon release.
“If I see him, what will he do? I don’t know what’s in his head,” Filipas said.
A parole report from August 2013 concluded that Claude Forget continues to remain a high risk to reoffend.
The same report stated that he has shown no commitment to rehabilitation.
Attorney Eric Sutton said that unless Walter Filipas can prove he’s being targeted, there is very little that can be done to help him.
“If he doesn’t actually have evidence to substantiate those concerns,” Sutton noted.
“There really is nothing in our legislation that would allow him to seek some sort of further protection.”
The parents of Karla Homolka’s victims made similar demands in 2005, when the convicted Ontario schoolgirl killer was released from a Quebec jail.
READ MORE: Karla Homolka now a mother of three living in the Caribbean: ebook
Some release conditions were put in place, but they were later thrown out in appeal.
“I’m doing my part not to feel helpless,” Filipas said.
The now 53-year-old said that he is trying to get the attention of senators and MP’s in Ottawa to help with his case.
However, the couple did say that they were not considering moving out of the province or the country.
They do not want to let Claude Forget ruin their lives a second time.
“Why should we run from him? I’m not going to run. Period.” Filipas’ wife said.
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