Drunk driver told to work on empathy

Parole board remarks come after Muzzo asked to return to York Region

Marco Muzzo, a wealthy York Region man who drove drunk and killed three children and their grandfather, may have acknowledged the names of the dead for the first time at a parole hearing earlier this month, but he needs to work on his empathy for those left behind.

And that, a Parole Board of Canada panel said in written reasons for granting Muzzo full parole on Feb. 9, is why it imposed special conditions on his release.

For the remainder of his sentence he cannot work, visit or live anywhere in York Region, where the crash site and a memorial for Gary Neville, 65, and Daniel, Harrison and Milagros Neville-Lake — aged nine, five and two — are near Muzzo’s home.

At the hearing, Muzzo told the two-member panel he wanted to do the “right thing” for the victims, two other family members injured in the 2015 collision, and their grieving relatives, who gave heart-wrenching victim impact statements. But, asked what that would be, he could not articulate what that was, but clearly hoped to be able to return to York Region.

“This suggests that despite your gains you still have work to do in terms of victim empathy and the effect of your return to the community,” Douglas Kirkpatrick and Kirsten Goodwin wrote in their written reasons, released Wednesday.

There stood a good chance that Muzzo would cross paths with survivors and family if he returns to York Region, the board found. And while not imposing a condition the impacted families had wanted — that he serve the rest of his sentence out-of-province — the board decided his rehabilitation would continue, but not at a home he shares with his fiancée, and not at the headquarters of the family’s construction business.

Muzzo had flown home on Sept. 27, 2015, via a chartered plane after a weekend bachelor party for him in Miami. He drank during the flight and then drove impaired toward his home in King City. He blew past a stop sign and caused a horrific collision with the family.

Muzzo pleaded guilty in 2016 to four counts of impaired driving causing death and two of impaired driving causing bodily harm. He was sentenced to nine years and four months in prison for killing the four family members and injuring two others. He was previously granted day parole in April 2020.

His release on parole means he must abide by standard release conditions plus five others, including staying out of York Region and Brampton, having no contact with the victims or any of their family members, and continuing a treatment plan that focuses on substance abuse, managing emotions, victim empathy and “reintegration stressors.”

He must also avoid bars and places of business where primary sources of income come from alcohol, and must not consume or possess alcohol.

Any violation could land Muzzo, 34, in prison. His sentence expires in July 2025, and he is ineligible to drive until 2037.

Jennifer Neville-Lake told the parole board earlier this month that she lived in fear of the man who killed her children and father.

“He scares me,” said NevilleLake. She told the board that she miscarried the day two of her children were taken off life support and has had suicide attempts.

Neville-Lake’s mother and grandmother were also injured in the crash.