Nova Scotia’s justice minister concerned over convicted killer and sexual predator’s release back to U.S.

Nova Scotia’s justice minister is expressing concern over a Parole Board of Canada decision to release a notorious convicted killer and sexual predator back to the United States.

Mark Furey says he will write a letter to his federal counterpart, David Lametti, about the release of William Shrubsall, who was declared a dangerous offender in 2001 following violent sexual assaults against women in Halifax.

The chief Crown attorney for Halifax, Paul Carver, has questioned the logic of the parole board’s decision, while a former lead police investigator in the case, Tom Martin, called it “borderline negligence.”

The minister says Shrubsall’s crimes were horrendous and he knows from his past experience as an RCMP officer that “victims are retraumatized by these very circumstances.”

The 47-year-old Shrubsall was returned this week to authorities in Upstate New York, where he will serve a sentence for sexual abuse, but could be eligible for parole in two years and four months for that offence.

Furey says although he’s routinely written to federal cabinet ministers on behalf of the province before, it’s the first time he’s written about a parole board decision.