The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Charlene’s hitand-run killer back on streets
Anger: Father says drink-driver Cory Sater should serve full sentence
The father of a Dundee woman killed by a drunken Canadian hit-and-run driver has slammed the killer’s early release from prison.
Cory Sater, 43, killed Charlene Reaveley and Lorraine Cruz when he ploughed into them at a junction in British Columbia in the early hours of February 19 2011.
The two women died almost instantly while Cruz’s boyfriend also suffered serious injuries.
Sater had spent the night before the collision drinking in a pub where he downed six whiskey-and-cokes and two Jagerbombs.
Thirty-year-old fitness instructor and mother-of-fourCharleneandherhusband Dan had stopped to help Cruz and her boyfriend Paulo Calimbahin, who had been in a car accident.
Sater’s SUV hit the two women as they stood by the side of the road.
He did not stop after the collision but later handed himself in to police.
He was jailed for seven and a half years in 2014 but has now been released on day parole, which means he must stay in a halfway house until he is eligible for full parole in around six months.
Charlene’s father Colin Ogilvie, who moved his family to Canada from Fintry 27 years ago, said Sater should have served his full sentence.
He said: “When do you think I will see Charlene again? Her sentence is forever.
“Sater should serve the sentence given. Criminal justice system is for criminals, nothing is mentioned about victim justice.
“My family and friends along with myself think the same.”
The parole board heard Sater, who abandoned an appeal against his sentence last year, has already taken part in programmes designed to address his offending behaviour and is currently jailed in a minimum security facility.
They received a number of letters on his behalf but Sater himself said he required further treatment before he should be considered for full parole.
The board granted his request for day parole as he is not considered an “undue risk” to the community.
The case attracted widespread attention in Canada and there was a public outcry that Sater was freed for three months between his conviction and sentencing.
Following Charlene’s death, her husband Dan set up a charity in her memory.
The Charlene Reaveley Children’s Charity Society offers help to families with children who have suffered a bereavement. It provides counselling and grants for students who have lost a parent or guardian.