Parents of Canadian lifer in U.S. hope governor will hear plea

The ailing parents of a Canadian man who has spent three decades behind bars in Florida are hoping to make a case for his transfer to Canada directly to the state’s governor when he visits Toronto later this month.

In a letter to Gov. Rick Scott, Richard and Carol Davies request a brief meeting so they can ask him personally to sign off on allowing their son, William Russell (Russ) Davies, to serve out his sentence in Canada.

The governor is due to attend an economic conference in late October, where the Davies are hoping they, or a friend of theirs, will be able to catch his attention.

“We are appealing to you as aging parents who only want to see our son back home,” the Davies write in the letter obtained by The Canadian Press. “We respectfully request 10 minutes of your time when you are in Toronto to share our story and ask that his transfer back to Canada be approved by you and by the State of Florida.”

Russ Davies, 49, of Richmond Hill, Ont., was barely 18 years old in June 1986 when the self-admitted misfit and runaway was accused along with five others of gunning down an acquaintance in Tomoka State Park near Daytona Beach, Fla. Two years later, a jury convicted him of first-degree murder.

A Canadian Press investigation published last year revealed that Davies’ trial lasted about seven hours and has been condemned by some legal observers as a sham. The state’s key witness — one of his five co-accused who all pleaded out in exchange for probation or short sentences — admitted to being drunk at the time of the crime.

In addition, his public defender Carmen Corrente, now an assistant attorney general, made numerous mistakes at trial, some of which he admitted at the time.

Russ Davies, who has always denied firing the fatal shot, has long sought a transfer to serve out his sentence in Canada.

Despite Canada’s formal willingness to take him back, Florida has steadfastly refused to let him leave — and he remains in prison 31 years later with little hope for parole.

His parents, who used to visit him in prison in the Sunshine State, are no longer able to do so due to poor health.