Triple murderer Cofell receives six-month extension of day parole
CHATHAM Being dismissed from a full-time job won’t stop a convicted triple murderer from having his day parole extended for up to six months.
Jason Shawn Cofell was imprisoned after being convicted of first-degree murder in the 1991 shooting of another teen, Jasen Pangburn, 18, and stabbing his grandparents, Alfred and Virginia Critchley, in Chatham. Cofell, now 43, was first granted day parole in May 2016, while incarcerated at the Beaver Creek Institution in Gravenhurst.
He was later released to a halfway house in Peterborough. A recent written decision of the Parole Board of Canada, granting Cofell the day-parole extension, details how he’d been working at a factory but was dismissed near the end of his employee probation period for being late for work twice and calling in sick twice.
“The board does not believe that this lack of full-time employment, at present, has increased your risk or caused any instability in your case,” says the report, obtained by Postmedia News.
Cofell has been working with an employment counsellor and concentrating on building a jewelrymaking business that includes plans to apply for a small business grant, the report noted.
According to Cofell’s most recent Correctional Plan Update from last month, his accountability and motivation level are rated high and his reintegration potential as medium.
Cofell is credited for taking psychological counselling, a special condition imposed by the parole board. The report says a psychological report from February shows a clinician assessed Cofell’s risk for both general and violent recidivism “to be in the low range.”
The clinician also credited Cofell for making “great strides” toward community reintegration on release, and for being “comfortable and confident in the community.”
The board’s report stated: “The Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) believes that through your appropriate conduct, you demonstrate respect for your release and the terms and conditions that apply.”
The report noted the CSC recommended Cofell’s day parole be continued for six months “as your risk to the community continues to be manageable.”
However, in assessing Cofell’s case, the report also says, “The board is fully aware of the horrendous impact that your offences have had on the community, including the friends and family of the victims.”
Because of that, special conditions remain on Cofell’s release including a ban on any contact with family of his victim to prevent any extra trauma for them.
In August 2015, some family members expressed anger when they learned Cofell was granted six unescorted, 72-hour temporary absences from Beaver Creek.
“Knowing that this brutal murderer has such freedom is an insult to the memory of my father, stepmother and step-nephew,” one of Alfred Critchley’s eight daughters wrote in an email.
In his May 2016 hearing, Cofell said day parole “is the next natural progression in my correctional case management.”
The board does not believe that this lack of fulltime employment, at present, has increased your risk or caused any instability in your case.