Keith Wiens being led out of Penticton Courhouse in 2011. The former Summerland RCMP, convicted of the 2011 murder of his common law wife was denied an appeal in Supreme Court earlier this week.
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February 15, 2021 - 3:30 PM
An ex-cop who murdered his fiancée 10 years ago in Penticton has again been granted supervised release.
The Parole Board of Canada is allowing Keith Wiens to take escorted absences for eight hours at a time to a maximum of 40 hours a month from his Kingston, Ont., prison, according to a decision dated Feb. 8.
Wiens was convicted in 2013 of second-degree murder in the Aug. 15, 2011 shooting death of his common-law wife, Lynn Kalmring in their Penticton home.
The escorted outings will be for “community services” in any Warden approved locations and conditions on his relationships will be applied.
“(Wiens) remains assessed as having a high risk for intimate partner violence and, despite having taken programming, this risk remains substantially unaddressed and unmitigated,” according to the parole board decision.
“Therefore, in order to protect other females from the risk (he) continues to pose, (he is) to report any and all friendships, sexual and non-sexual relationships with women to (his) parole supervisor.”
Wiens has been granted this type of release with similar conditions before. They’re aimed at increasing his reintegration potential before January 2022, when he will be eligible for day parole. If granted, it will give him daytime freedoms, while he will be under orders to return nightly to a community-based residential facility or halfway house unless otherwise authorized by the Parole Board of Canada.
According to the most recent Psychological Assessment on Wiens, dated Nov. 24, 2020, he is in the low range of risk for both general and violent recidivism. In 2018, he was assessed as a minimum security offender and in the time since has demonstrated an ability to comply with institutional rules and expectations. He is a low risk for violence against others in a family context.
Where he falls short, according to the parole board, is understanding his behaviour and the results of the Spousal Assault Risk Assessment indicate he is at high risk for partner violence.
“You continue to display concerning deficits in your insight into your risk factors,” reads the report.
“In particular, you have not sufficiently addressed your beliefs and thinking that justifies partner violence and, by continuing to ruminate on your personal perception of injustice, you fail to display victim empathy or take accountability for your actions. You remain assessed as a high risk for intimate partner violence, and this risk has not been mitigated. For any less restrictive community release in the future, you will need to demonstrate increased progress and positive change in the understanding your risk factors, crime process, and you will also need to develop a self-management plan that addresses your deficit/need areas.”
Wiens, who was a former Summerland, RCMP officer, appealed his conviction and sentence until 2016, when he dropped the issue. He appealed his conviction, arguing trial Judge Geoff Barrow did not give proper weight to certain trial evidence.
Wiens said he shot Kalmring in self defence when she lunged at him with a knife, but Barrow ruled the August 2011 he placed the knife in the victim's hand following the shooting. Barrow said the murder in the couple's Penticton home was impulsive, senseless and alcohol-fuelled, prompted by an increasingly bitter eight-month battle over finances.
Victim Impact Statements on file indicate that Kalmring's family continues to endure the tragic loss of their beloved family member, and have conveyed to the Parole Board the emotional and psychological harm that has resulted from her violent death.
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