BOWDEN, Alta. - A man convicted for his role in the shooting deaths of four Alberta Mounties in Mayerthorpe nine years ago will be seeking day parole at a hearing in central Alberta.
Shawn Hennessey, 36, and his brother-in-law, Dennis Cheeseman, pleaded guilty to manslaughter for giving James Roszko a rifle and a ride to Roszko's farm near Mayerthorpe in 2005.
Hennessey was already granted more unescorted, temporary absences following a hearing before the Parole Board of Canada a year ago.
He has been allowed to visit his family for up to 78 hours, once every month, for six months.
He had applied for early parole in 2012, but was denied.
Day parole prepares an offender for release by allowing him to participate in the community, but return nightly to an institution or a halfway house.
Constables Peter Schiemann, Anthony Gordon, Brock Myrol and Leo Johnston had been guarding a Quonset hut on Roszko's farm as part of a marijuana grow-op and automobile chop-shop investigation.
Roszko ambushed and killed the officers before he killed himself.
Hennessey was sentenced in 2009 to 10 years and four months for his role in the crime. Cheeseman was handed seven years and two months. They both lost court appeals asking for shorter sentences.
Cheeseman was granted statutory release late last year after serving two-thirds of his sentence, but was re-arrested last month for having prescription drugs that were not in his name. He pleaded guilty to the charge of possession of a controlled substance and was fined $1,000.
At Hennessey's hearing last year the parole board said the minimum-security inmate has worked hard over the years, gained insight into his behaviours and become "emotional when considering the victims and their families."
He has completed his high school equivalency diploma, achieved employment certificates and, with perimeter security clearance for the prison works department, has received good employment reports.
A psychologist report also suggests he is a low risk to reoffend.
