Warning: This story contains details that may be disturbing to readers. Discretion is advised.
Convicted killer James Shortreed has been denied parole after serving more than two decades behind bars at a Vancouver Island correctional facility.
Shortreed is serving a life sentence after brutally killing his wife, Iris McNeil, and stuffing her body in a freezer in June 1997. They were married for 31 days.
“As much as it was so difficult to be part of this hearing today … we are relieved, relieved that he is going to stay in prison to live out his prison sentence,” said McNeil’s niece, Crystal Brendzy, after the hearing.
“He committed murder and that’s where he should stay.”
Shortreed is incarcerated at the Williams Head Institution in Metchosin.
He attended a parole hearing on Oct. 6, and was denied full parole, day parole and unescorted temporary absences.
McNeil’s extended family, living in anguish, has petitioned against his parole for years, believing he is likely to do further harm to women.
“We’re a family who fights, will stand up,” said Brendzy, adding that her aunt would be “incredibly proud” of their advocacy.
McNeil is remembered as a “well-respected and liked” Canadian Border Services Agent, said Brendzy, who brought McNeil’s CBSA badge to the hearing on Wednesday.
She described her aunt as the kind of woman who knew everyone’s birthdays and lit up every room she walked into.
“Iris McNeil was smart, incredibly funny, and was there for so many people,” Brendzy told Global News. “She wanted to make an impact to those around her.”
McNeil was 49 years old when she married Shortreed, unaware of the man’s violent criminal past, according to her family.
Shortreed had previously been convicted of assault causing bodily harm on a woman he attempted to kidnap at the age of 18. He also raped and forcibly confined his former wife as their marriage ended in 1990.
On the night he killed McNeil, Shortreed had returned home from a midnight shift as a machine operator and attacked her as she slept.
He later told a forensic psychiatrist he was despondent from daily cocaine use and was sentenced on a second degree murder charge.
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