Man responsible for one of B.C.’s most horrifying mass murders can apply for parole again in July

Warning: This story contains details that may disturb some readers. 

The man responsible for one of B.C.’s most horrifying mass murders is eligible to apply for parole again this July and the families of his victims want to make sure he isn’t granted it.

In August of 1982, David Shearing, who now goes by David Ennis, shot grandparents George and Edith Bentley and parents Bob and Jackie Johnson as they camped just outside Wells Gray Provincial Park.

He then abducted the Johnson’s 13- and 11-year-old daughters, Janet and Karen, and spent several days torturing and sexually assaulting them before killing them.

He then put all six bodies into the Johnson’s car and set it on fire.

After a long, cross-Canada investigation, Ennis was arrested and later pleaded guilty to six counts of second-degree murder.

He was sentenced to life with no chance of parole for 25 years.

He has applied for and been rejected three times and has now applied again.

Shelley Boden, Bob and Jackie’s niece and cousin to Janet and Karen, said she doesn’t want to have to attend another parole hearing for the man that killed so many members of her family.

“We’re all afraid that he’s going to come out and re-offend,” she said.

“In the last five years, he hasn’t done anything to improve himself. He hasn’t done any classes or courses.”

His next hearing is set for July and the families of the victims have started an online petition that will be presented to the parole board. It says Ennis should not be given parole and should remain behind bars.

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Shelley said everything has to be submitted to the parole board by May 1, including victim impact statements.

“We’re all afraid,” she said. “We don’t want him to see us.”

“What these girls endured by the hands of that monster should never happen to anybody else. It’s the worse thing that could ever happen. We can’t even imagine the terror those girls had to endure by his hands.”

-with files from Rumina Daya