Convicted child murderer denied overnight leave in Regina

Harold Smeltzer won’t be allowed to go on overnight visits to his friends’ homes anytime soon.
 
The Parole Board of Canada has denied Smeltzer’s request for overnight leave so he could visit a male friend for one night, finding the request “inconsistent with public safety.”
 
Smeltzer now lives in a Regina halfway house after serving 27 years in prison for the murder of Kimmie Thompson. Thompson was just five years old when Smeltzer abducted her in Calgary, took her back to his parent’s home, crawled into a bathtub naked with her, and drowned her before stuffing her body into a garbage can.
 
The parole board continued Smeltzer’s day parole, saying the now 59-year-old man still requires close monitoring including curfews and regular check-ins.
 
The last time Smeltzer’s day parole was extended, Kimmie Thompson’s mother Evelyn told News Talk Radio about the continued anxiety she suffers 35 years after her daughter’s murder. She said she still fears what Smeltzer is capable of during the day.
 
– With files from the Canadian Press.

panews@jpbg.ca

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