Rallo’s claims of innocence slam door on parole
40 years after triple murder, Hamilton man still refuses to admit guilt
GRAVENHURST — If ever there was going to be a time for Jon Rallo to confess to murdering his wife and children, this was it — his first parole hearing since his beloved mother’s death.
Yet despite the hopes and rumours that have churned around Hamilton in the 40 years since the killings, Rallo clung stubbornly to his “denial stance” Tuesday.
“If my position doesn’t change, am I never going to get full parole?” Rallo asked of the Parole Board of Canada (PBC) panel. “Because gentlemen, my position hasn’t changed.”
It’s that refusal to admit his guilt that has blocked him from full parole over and over again — this time being no different.
And now, thanks to legislation championed by Flamborough-Glanbrook Conservative MP David Sweet, the convicted murderer may not get another chance for five years.
Standing outside Beaver Creek Institution in Gravenhurst just moments after Rallo was denied his bid for full parole, his victims’ family and Sweet wondered if this might be the last time they are dragged through this painful process.
“Rallo will be 78 by then,” said Janice Orovan, dabbing at her tears. “Imagine not coming back to this place?”
Sweet’s private member’s bill calling
for changes to the Corrections and Conditional Release Act was passed in April 2015, forcing offenders to wait longer for legislated full parole hearings. The change stretched from two years to five. Though offenders can apply before the five years is up, the PBC has the right to deny the application.
Sweet introduced the legislation after supporting Janice and her brother David Pollington at several of Rallo’s hearings. He saw the emotional toll it took on them to be in the same room with their former brother-in-law who murdered their sister, niece and nephew.
Sweet has also attended an unsuccessful parole hearing for George Lovie, convicted of killing Donna and Arnold Edwards in their Glanbrook home in 1991. Lovie was targeting his former girlfriend Michelle Edwards.
While she survived the attack her parents, who valiantly tried to protect her, were murdered.
Janice and David have attended every court date and PBC hearing Rallo has had over four decades. Every time they deliver heart wrenching victim impact statements. There are few — if any — families of murder victims in Canada who have been intertwined with the parole system for as long as Janice and David.
On Aug. 16, 1976, Rallo, a manager with the City of Hamilton, murdered his wife, Sandra, 29, his son Jason, 6, and daughter Stephanie, 5, at their tidy Hamilton Mountain bungalow.
The bodies of Sandra and Stephanie surfaced in area waterways. Jason’s body has never been found.
“My family still has not had an opportunity to have a memorial for Jason as we do not know what cold waterway holds his body,” Janice sobbed to the hearing while Rallo, dressed entirely in black, remained stone faced.
“But here we are once again, in the process of considering Offender Rallo’s fate. This man is so heartless that he will not admit why he killed our family and what he did with Jason’s tiny body after brutally killing him. My brother and I will carry on trying to seek answers to those questions.”
The Rallo murders horrified Hamilton and continue to evoke strong feelings in the community. Many believed Rallo was refusing to admit his guilt so long as his mother, Dorothea, was alive.
Dorothea died in December, at age 95. Rallo’s father, Jack, died in October at age 97. They both still lived in Hamilton and for years Rallo visited them every other weekend.
Fessing up to the murders this time might have given Rallo the full parole he has long sought.
But he stuck to his ridiculous story that Sandra ran off with a wealthy lawyer, claiming she was having an affair. In 40 years no evidence of the lawyer or the affair has ever materialized.
A jury convicted Rallo of three counts of first-degree murder and he exhausted all attempts to appeal.
The PBC also denied Rallo more days out in the community. Four days a week Rallo lives in a Sudbury apartment with his girlfriend of eight years. Rallo now wears a wedding band, which he says symbolizes his commitment to their common-law marriage.
For the other three days, Rallo lives at a Sudbury half-way house.
Though reducing his number of days in the half-way house was an option, that too was turned down after Rallo himself said the staff at the house provide stability and structure in his life.
This man is so heartless that he will not admit why he killed our family and what he did with Jason’s tiny body after brutally killing him. JANICE OROVAN