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Paul Bernardo day-parole hearing pushed back again

A standard cell block at Kingston Penitentiary in Kingston, where Paul Bernardo was imprisoned until the facility closed in 2013. He is now reportedly being held at a maximum security institution in Bath, Ont. REUTERS

A hearing to examine the possibility of day parole for notorious serial killer Paul Bernardo has been pushed back yet again, this time until October.

Tim Danson, the lawyer for the families of Bernardo’s murder victims, 14-year-old Leslie Mahaffy and 15-year-old Kristen French, confirmed on Thursday that the hearing, initially scheduled for March and then August of this year, has been rescheduled for unspecified reasons at Bernardo’s request.

READ MORE: Paul Bernardo’s day-parole hearing scheduled for March, victims’ families ‘gutted’

Danson has previously said he is confident the serial rapist and murderer will never be granted parole.

WATCH: Could Paul Bernardo walk free? 

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Could Paul Bernardo walk free?

Bernardo was found guilty of brutally raping and murdering French and Mahaffy in 1995, and sentenced to life with no chance of parole for 25 years. He has also been designated a dangerous offender, which puts an additional, major obstacle between him and even partial freedom from prison.

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After serving more than two decades behind bars, Bernardo became eligible for day parole. But Danson has explained that the chances of that happening remain slim to nil.

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“We’re not going to be complacent … but I would be very surprised if he got released,” he said last fall, adding that Bernardo is a “brutal sexual predator” who has shown little remorse or any insight into his crimes.

“To my knowledge, there is no medical cure for psychopathy, and certainly the kind of psychopathy that Paul Bernardo has.”

Bernardo becomes eligible for full parole in 2018.

COMMENTARY: Is prison justice too cruel for Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy’s killer?

The Mahaffy and French families have also recently had to contend with news surrounding Bernardo’s former partner and fellow convicted killer, Karla Homolka.

In late May, it was revealed that Homolka had been volunteering occasionally at the Montreal school attended by her children. Her work at the school has since ceased.

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