Day parole granted for man who planned to murder sisters

A convicted killer who was allowed to apply for early parole under the “faint hope clause” was granted day parole last month.

Brian Gerald West, 66, is serving a life sentence for first-degree murder and conspiracy in connection with the 1993 death of 19-yearold Sian Simmonds. To date, he has served 23 years behind bars.

In May 2013, a jury decided that even though West was sentenced to life with no parole eligibility for 25 years, he could apply for early parole under the clause, which allows offenders serving a life sentence with a parole ineligibility period of more than 15 years to apply for parole after serving 15 years. It was repealed on Dec. 2, 2011, but remains available to those sentenced before that date.

In 1991, Simmonds and her older sister Katie complained to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of B.C., alleging misconduct by their family doctor, Josephakis Charalambous. Charalambous planned to have the sisters killed so they could not testify.

He enlisted West, a longtime associate, to hire a hit man. West — who thought he was hiring someone to assault the victim, not kill her — hired David Schlender, who owed him more than $5,000 for cocaine.

On Jan. 27, 1993, Schlender went to the basement suite shared by the sisters, where he shot and bludgeoned Simmonds. Katie was not home at the time.

Schlender admitted to second-degree murder and was sentenced to life with no chance of parole for 20 years. He died in prison in January 2006. Charalambous was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy and was given the same sentence as West.

West’s case management team supported his application for day parole, and noted he has no institutional programming needs and his current risk level does not require incarceration. His day parole will be reviewed in six months.