DAY PAROLE AFTER 3 DECADES
Duray Richards was convicted of murder for a 1992 slaying in Creston but has always declared he is innocent
A man convicted in a brutal murder in Creston in 1992 has been granted day parole after receiving support from his famous musician sister.
The Parole Board of Canada said in a ruling released this week that Duray Bentley Richards had worked hard to change during 28 years in jail and would not pose “undue” risk if released to a halfway house for a six-month period.
“The board has determined that your risk on a structured and monitored day parole release is not undue and your reintegration on day parole will contribute to the protection of society,” board members Delaine Dew and Tammy McCorkell said in the ruling, dated May 22.
Richards’s sister, singer and actress Jann Arden, addressed Dew and McCorkell during the video hearing last month.
“Your sister spoke as your assistant and stated that you have an enormous amount of support in the community,” the board members said. “She described you as the most genuine and kind individual and that in the past she did not really know you due to your intoxicant use.”
They said Arden “believes you can be an asset to society and she has been impressed with your ability to acclimate into the community. She remains proud of you and stated that you deserve to be out ‘among us.’ ”
Richards, 61, has maintained his innocence in the slaying of Carrie Louise Marshall, a young mom dumped in the bush in December 1992 after being raped and beaten.
He has lost all his appeals, but has made a last-ditch attempt to get a new trial with the support of law students from the University of B.C.’s Innocence Project.
Richards has accepted responsibility for a series of earlier sexual assaults and acts of violence against women. Dew and McCorkell said that Richards’s claim of innocence in the murder has caused Marshall’s family continued trauma.
“There is a victim statement on your file which conveys the family’s ongoing pain and suffering resulting from the loss of their loved one to your violence. They write how the victim was taken away from them quickly and brutally and they did not have the chance to say goodbye,” they said.
“The board does not lose sight of the negative aspects of your case. Your history of violence is very concerning and reflects a lifestyle of violence, substance abuse, unchecked emotions, preying on the vulnerability of women, and lack of control over your own behaviour, and which all culminated in you violently taking the life of a victim.”
But Dew and McCorkell noted that Richards had “worked very hard at addressing all the contributing factors to your offending.”
Last fall, the parole board granted Richards unescorted temporary absences (UTAs) so that he could spend time with Arden and his younger brother — he visited Arden’s house near Calgary in December, January and February.
Dew and McCorkell noted that a woman’s body was found near Arden’s property during a recent UTA. But they said Correctional Service Canada indicated it had “nothing to do with” Richards.
The board imposed special conditions on Richards release — he can’t drink, do drugs or have contact with Marshall’s family or any sextrade workers.
He must also report any new relationship to his parole officer.