Day parole has been granted to a man who killed his teenage girlfriend in Okotoks more than 26 years ago.
Stephanie Spooner, 16, was stabbed repeatedly in January 1991, after Bradley Paetsch learned she was in a relationship with someone else. He was later convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.
Spooner’s family admits it has been a tough year, having to relive the crime with every Parole Board of Canada hearing.
Last September, the board granted Paetsch, who now goes by the name Tristan Ryan, unescorted temporary passes for the first time.
Those freedoms were granted again at another hearing in February.
According to documents obtained by News Talk 770, Paetsch was granted day parole in July.
It was another decision that gutted Spooner’s family.
“We don’t get unescorted absences with Stephanie, we don’t get weekend passes,” Robin Spooner said Thursday. “For us, this is a true life sentence and will be a life sentence until the day we die.”
Spooner was at the last hearing, something the parole board alluded to.
“A victim relative read out the victim statement,” the decision read. “This emphasized the ongoing agony that she and the whole family are feeling, despite the passage of time. She related the family’s expectations, which the board has taken into consideration in the making of its decision.”
But it was what Paetsch said in the hearing that took Spooner by surprise.
“He said he hopes that Stephanie would want him to move on with his life,” Spooner said on the phone. “That is the most disrespectful, disgusting thing anybody could say. What Stephanie would want is to be alive. I don’t think she wants her murderer to get on with his life.”
For now, she and the family are focusing on keeping Stephanie’s memories alive by telling her story.
Watch below from September 2016: A man convicted of the first-degree murder of his ex-girlfriend has been given privileges in prison. As Jill Croteau reports, the victim’s family is exposing their private pain, in hopes the parole board will re-consider his freedom.
“Stephanie would do anything for anyone,” she continued. “She had the biggest heart imaginable, she was the most incredible older sister to her younger brothers.” “She just had a light about her that you don’t see very often,” Spooner added.
Paetsch succcessfuly applied under the faint hope clause to have his parole eligibility reduced by two years, although he has yet to apply for full parole.
Spooner said she and her family are preparing for that eventuality, given how quickly he’s been able to progress from passes to day parole.
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