KELOWNA — The holiday season is always a tough time for Doug Stevens and his wife Marlene Mack.
It was shortly after Christmas 2002 when the Kelowna couple’s daughter was murdered by her common law spouse.
Delme John Evans was charged with second degree murder for beating Phoebe Mack to death in her Sydney, BC home.
He pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to 12-years in prison. Those 12-years were up Wednesday and now Evans is back on the street.
“He could be standing at our doorway tomorrow morning,” says Stevens.
Evans has a son but no longer has access to the child because he’s been legally adopted by Stevens and Mack, who are the boy’s grandparents. But there’s no law forbidding Evans from trying.
What puzzles the Kelowna couple is the fact that Evans has been released without conditions. Under his statutory release while serving his 12-year sentence, he violated the terms six times — the most recent just last September.
“He’s a high risk to re-offend. His psychological therapist has stated that he’s made no progress and he’s not treatment ready,” says Stevens. “And three months later, he’s going to walk out with no conditions into the community.”
The parole board also had concerns. In September, it wrote:
“The Board has also considered your high-risk to re-offend against an intimate partner. You killed your intimate partner and are assessed as a high-risk for violence in a relationship.”
According to Evans’ Facebook page, he’s currently in a relationship.
Stevens and Mack say they can’t understand how, despite the warnings, Evans is back on the street.
“The parole board and Correction Services of Canada made us feel unsafe. They’re the ones that say he’s not safe and now they tell us there’s nothing they can do.”
They say they can’t even get a restraining order because Evans hasn’t shown up at their home. And so they wait.
“You wake up in the middle of the night. You hear some noise. What’s going on? That’s what we have to look forward to?” says Stevens.
Stevens and Mack say Evans also has a daughter in West Kelowna — giving him more reason to come to the Central Okanagan.
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