B.C. man who killed parents, two others as teen granted parole

VANCOUVER— A British Columbia man who murdered four people as a teenager and left his two-month-old niece in a room with her dead mother has been granted full parole.

James Ruscitti is serving a life sentence for the 1996 execution-style slayings of his adoptive parents, his brother’s 17year-old girlfriend and a board- er who lived in their home near 100 Mile House, in central B.C.

Ruscitti was 15 and a drug user when he and a 14-year-old accomplice committed the crime, though the Parole Board of Canada has said he was sober when he shot the victims, leaving the baby near death.

The board says in its written decision granting Ruscitti full parole that it is concerned the 37-year-old man is still unclear about what motivated him to kill four people, though it is satisfied he’s struggling to understand his actions.

Ruscitti is considered a moderate risk to reoffend, but the board says the positive aspects of his life include a full-time job as an electrician and plans to live with his girlfriend and her daughter in their townhouse on Vancouver Island.

His parole comes with several conditions, including that he not consume alcohol or nonprescribed drugs nor have any contact with the victims or anyone in their families, and immediately report all relationships and friendships with females to his parole supervisor.

In its written decision dated Oct. 4, the board says a psychiatric assessment from1996 prepared for trial indicated the offence was directly linked to Ruscitti’s strong antisocial and narcissistic personality.

However, the board says Ruscitti has remained compliant with conditions of his release and respectful to his parole supervisors in the three years since he was granted day parole.

Ruscitti’s accomplice, Chad Bucknell, has also been granted full parole and the board lifted an alcohol restriction imposed on him last year.