EDMONTON — A man convicted for his role in the shooting deaths of four Mounties in rural Alberta has been granted full parole effective immediately.
The Parole Board of Canada says Shawn Hennessey has been functioning well since he was allowed to live in a halfway house last fall.
The parole board emphasized that it could be difficult for Hennessey back in his home community where some people may not make him welcome.
Hennessey, 35, said he understands that and will be able to deal with it.
The parole board did include some conditions in its decision. Hennessey is not to contact any members of the victims' families nor is he to travel to Lac la Biche, Alta. The mother of one of the RCMP officers lives there and she requested Hennessey not be allowed into the town.
There were no relatives of the constables present at the hearing in Edmonton.
Hennessey and his brother-in-law, Dennis Cheeseman, pleaded guilty to manslaughter for giving James Roszko a gun and a ride to Roszko's farm near Mayerthorpe in 2005.
Constables Peter Schiemann, Anthony Gordon, Brock Myrol and Leo Johnston had been guarding a Quonset hut on Roszko's farm.
Roszko ambushed and killed the officers before killing himself.
Hennessey was sentenced in 2009 to 10 years and four months and Cheeseman was handed seven years and two months. They both lost court appeals arguing for shorter sentences.
Cheeseman was granted statutory release in 2013 after serving two-thirds of his sentence. He later pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance for having prescription drugs that were not in his name. He was fined $1,000.
Hennessey applied for early parole in 2012, but was denied. He was later granted unescorted, temporary absences to visit his family. He has a wife and two daughters.
Hennessey told the parole board last year that he wanted to honour memories of the fallen officers by proving that he's turned his life around.
"I will prove I am a different person, that these things will never come from Shawn Hennessey again,'' he said.
"It will bother me for the rest of my life. The hurt I have caused for so many people will never go away."
The board noted at the time that Hennessey had taken responsibility for his actions and shown empathy for his victims. It heard that Hennessey had completed his high school equivalency diploma while behind bars and been offered a construction job in the area of Barrhead, Alta., where his family lives.
