Hit man denied unescorted visit to GTA
Decision follows pleas by victim’s family to keep hired killer out of the area
Hit man Charles Gagne has been denied in his bid for unescorted passes to visit the GTA, where he murdered boxer Eddie Melo and his friend Jaoa (Johnny) Pavao in 2001.
The parole board’s decision followed emotional pleas by Melo family members to keep the hired killer out of the Toronto area, where some of them still live.
Gagne, 48, was on an unescorted day pass from an Ottawa-area halfway house on April 6, 2001, when he murdered Melo, 40, and Pavao, 42, in tiny Cliffway Plaza, near Hurontario Street and the QEW.
Gagne had appealed to the parole board to let him live in the GTA because that would put him closer to “the love of my life” — the woman he met on an online dating site for prisoners and married while on parole.
He said his wife is in the GTA and he needs to be with her.
“My wife would never leave her roots there,” Gagne said. “I have no intention of going anywhere else. My wife is the love of my life and I will do anything to be with her.”
The decision was announced late last month.
Gagne, who had sought unescorted temporary absences in the GTA, is serving a life sentence after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in the Melo and Pavao contract killings following a plea bargain.
His criminal record also includes convictions for aggravated assault, assault with a weapon, and a variety of driving, property, weapon and drug offences and breaches of trust.
Gagne admitted at a November 2017 parole hearing that he committed at least 20 armed bank robberies for which he was never caught and that he was active in underworld debt collection.
He earlier testified before the board that he is a different man than the one who murdered Melo, a former boxing champion and reputed mob enforcer, for the promise of $75,000 and underworld status. Gagne later testified he was only paid $50,000 of his fee.
No one was ever convicted of ordering Melo’s murder.
Court heard that Pavao was killed because he was a witness.
At the time he murdered Melo and Pavao, Gagne was on parole after receiving a 10-year-sentence for robbing a grocery store on March 16, 1995, with a machine gun.
“On May 5, 2001, you went to a home in Quebec and shot a man in the stomach and ear,” the latest parole board decision states. “You have said that you went to recover something he had stolen. However, when he struggled with you, the gun discharged accidentally.”
Melo’s family said it was bizarre and hurtful that Gagne could push for passes in the GTA, since he committed two murders there while on parole.
“These requests are ludicrous, inconsiderate,” Melo’s daughter Jessica said at his online hearing. “He executed my father like he was putting down a rabid dog.”
Gagne received full parole in December 2001 for the grocery store robbery, before he was arrested for the Melo or Pavao murders.
“On a previous occasion, you told the Board you were leading a double life, portraying yourself as a reformed parolee, while also engaging in criminal activity,” the parole board decision stated. “In May 2002, your release was suspended after a drug lab fire at a restaurant you owned with your brother-inlaw.”
The latest parole board decision notes that Melo family members suffered “severe pain and loss” from his actions and fear bumping into him, should he be allowed into the GTA on unescorted passes.
“The Board notes that you were attentive, and followed these victim statements carefully, and did acknowledge the impact of your actions on their lives. That said, throughout the course of the hearing, you did not present a strong sense of victim empathy or willingness to consider the views of the victims in the discussion of your release plan.”
Gagne told the board it is difficult to hear how much he has hurt people like the Melo family.
“It’s hard on me,” he said in a soft, even voice. “I’m a human being. It’s horrible what I have done … There’s nothing I can do or say about how they feel.”
His latest parole board report notes that he was raised by a single mother, whom he has described as emotionally abusive.
He didn’t complete school but held jobs and has an adult daughter.
“During your first incarceration period, you met people involved in organized crime, and associated with them on release,” the decision continues.
Gagne was described in the report as having a “moderatehigh risk for reoffending in the three years following release.”
While behind bars, he successfully completed a number of programs, including ones for substance abuse, anger and emotions management and violence prevention.
He married in 2016 and told the board he intends to live with his wife and work in the GTA.
“Although you told the Board that your current wife is ‘a saint,’ and has no connection to criminal activity, you would not tell the Board what type of work she is involved in or the type of work that she would connect you to on your eventual release,” the board wrote in its decision. “This lack of transparency is concerning to the Board and has brought into question whether your risk is undue, particularly given your history of deception.”