A man who played a part in an arson attack that killed two young Calgary children more than a decade ago has been granted day parole.
Michael Sheets and Fernum Kezar started a house fire that killed six-year-old Ali al-Mayahi and his four-year-old sister Saja in November 2004.
The children’s mother was also hurt while jumping from the second storey of their Applewood home.
Sheets and Kezar were paid $120 – $60 each – to scare the woman who lived at the home and to punch her. But Salima Barih refused to open the door.
So, the two men came back and lobbed Molotov cocktails through the living room window, which led to the inferno.
Sheets and Kezar both pleaded guilty to manslaughter and arson. Sheets received a sentence of 14 years and two months, while Kezar was sentenced to 16 years in prison.
In documents obtained by News Talk 770, the Parole Board of Canada has given day parole to Sheets.
“You have accepted full responsibility for your offences and are reportedly deeply remorseful for your actions,” the board said following a recent hearing.
Sheets, 47, was given day parole in 2013, but within a year, he escaped three times, leading to his freedoms being revoked. It wasn’t the last time he had a run-in with the law.
WATCH BELOW: Michael Sheets is taken back into custody after escaping in February 2015.
“In February 2015, while participating in an escorted temporary absence to a brain injury clinic, you absconded and returned to using substances,” the decision read. “Police eventually located you hiding in a residence. You reportedly drank alcohol to cope with the anxiety of your escape. Your escape has been described as ‘poorly planned.'”
The board said he escaped because he didn’t want to give in to the demands of another inmate to bring drugs back into the institution and that he couldn’t say anything earlier as he thought he was being monitored and threatened.
Sheets’ behaviour while behind bars has been described as “mixed” because of some early desires to gain the acceptance of fellow inmates, but he later learned to distance himself from those people. He has also been in both minimum- and medium-security prison and has been placed in segregation following concerns for his safety.
The board concluded by granting day parole with several conditions, including abstaining from drugs and alcohol. He also won’t be allowed overnight leaves.
Those conditions will carry over to his statutory release date in February, although the parole board has added a residency condition, meaning he will have to live in a halfway house.
Another man involved in the case, Abdul Aziz Ellahib, was convicted of manslaughter and arson and sentenced to 20 years behind bars.
In March, News Talk 770 learned he was denied day parole and full parole by the Parole Board of Canada.
“It is the board’s opinion that you will present an undue risk to society if released on day parole or full parole and that your release will not contribute to the protection of society by facilitating your reintegration into society as a law-abiding citizen,” that decision read.