Shelley Pertelson, left, is pictured with her late sister Lynn Kalmring in this photo supplied by the family.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED

The family of a woman brutally killed by a retired RCMP officer in Penticton is heartbroken, angry and devastated that the convicted murderer will soon be applying for parole.

On the afternoon of July 14, 2013, Keith Wiens stared straight ahead and remained stoic after a jury of his peers found him guilty of the murder of  Penticton’s Lynn Kalmring, the woman he testified he loved.

Kalmring, 55, was shot in cold blood by Wiens on Aug. 16, 2011.

In July 2013, the former Mountie was given a life sentence without chance of parole for 13 years by a B.C. Supreme Court judge in Kelowna.

Wiens, who was 57 when sentenced, will soon be applying for parole and that troubles and scares Shelley Pertelson, Kalmring’s sister and Kalmring’s daughter Brandy Cummings.

Wiens maintained he shot Lynn Kalmring in self-defence in August 2011, saying she came at him with a knife, but a jury rejected that claim after deliberating for just a few hours and declared him guilty of second-degree murder.

Wiens and Kalmring were involved in a common-law relationship for seven years when the murder took place.

“This coming Friday there’s a hearing, because he’s trying to get an escorted leave,” said Pertelson, in a phone interview from her home in Salmon Arm. “He’s in custody in Bath Institute in Ontario... that’s about all I know.”

Pertelson said she will be presenting a detailed and heartfelt victim impact statement that she will be reading via Zoom at Friday’s hearing.

When asked how difficult the past 13 years have been, Pertelson quivered with emotion.

“It has been horrible,” she said. “Me and my sister were very close. It’s been so tough. A lot of time has passed, but it hasn’t made things any easier. Not at all.”

The fact she’s had to live a life without her sister for 13 years and the man who brutally murdered her is applying to be a free man stirs a lot of deep emotions, she said.

“I don’t know if you can describe it,” she said. “It’s a combination of a lot of things. Anger and frustration, yeah. It’s not even possible to put it into words.”

While not divulging what she’s going to write in her victim impact statement, Pertelson said she will make it very clear how much damage Wiens has caused to her and her family and that 13 years behind bars is not a sufficient punishment.

“Of course he shouldn’t be released,” she said. “I think it’s kind of important to keep this story alive and let everyone know what’s going on.”

Cummings said the fact the man who killed her mother so brutally might soon be a free man is infuriating and stirs up so many emotions, it’s difficult to describe.

“It just causes anxiety, so much anxiety,” she said. “Your blood turns cold for a second and here it is. He’s alive and my Mom isn’t and now he wants to be free.

“It does break my heart. The damage he’s caused to our family by his actions is continuing. It’s a huge ripple effect he’s caused in my family. All these years later, it’s still there. We’ve never had a chance to heal because of this. We always knew this day would come.”

She never liked or trusted Wiens from the day she met him.

“I didn’t like him from the start,” she said. “I never liked him from the minute I met him. As the years went on, my thoughts were my Mom deserved to be happy. And if she’s happy, what I think didn’t matter.

“That said, I didn’t like him. I never liked him. He was really an awful person from everything I could tell.”

While she has the opportunity to send her own victim impact statement to the Parole Board of Canada as part of the upcoming hearing, Cummings said she doesn’t plan to as it will shatter her emotionally.

“I don’t think I can at this point,” she said. “It’s been 13 years and I still can’t put into words how this makes me feel. I’ve written statements in the past, but the damage is so immense what he’s done, it’s just too hard to put into words and explain it.”

Spending 13 years in prison for murder simply isn’t enough time considering her mother’s young life ended so brutally, she said.

“It’s not enough,” she said. “In my opinion, and I know this sounds harsh, but I will never be at peace until he’s dead because of what he’s done. He’s inflicted too much damage and it can’ t be repaired.”

The five men and seven women deliberated for just over four hours when they returned a verdict of second-degree murder  in Kelowna.

On the day the verdict was read, members of Kalmring’s family and supporters whooped and cheered quietly before a sheriff motioned them to stay quiet.

“It’s like this huge weight lifted off,” said Donna Irwin, Kalmring’s sister. “And Lynn is free.”

At the trial, Wiens was dressed in a suit and tie and appeared a condemned man early in the process. He turned to face Kalmring’s family moments before the verdict, the first time he had looked at them throughout the three-week trial.

Jurors had the options of convicting Wiens of manslaughter or finding him not guilty.

They convicted him and recommended he serve at least 20 years before being eligible for parole.

The usual minimum before parole eligibility for second-degree murder is 10 years.

The relief and emotion were palpable when the jury announced it had reached a verdict.

“We all just broke down and started crying. They told us you’ve got to be prepared (for) not guilty. I never thought about that,” said Irwin. “I think he thought he was going to walk from this. Tonight, we’re all going to sleep.”

Crown counsel Colin Forsyth said during final submissions the couple’s finances had been a source of acrimony at least eight months before Wiens shot Kalmring to death in their Penticton home.

Wiens had written her a letter complaining about her lack of financial contributions to the couple’s homes in Penticton and Arizona.

Encounters with Kalmring’s relatives in the weeks prior to the shooting showed a “simmering resentment” over her failure to pay a fair share, the trial heard

Minutes before she died, Kalmring told her sister, Peretelson, she threw her ring and cash at Wiens. Police found the money placed neatly on a kitchen counter.

The Crown said Kalmring was committed to Wiens. Her heart was hurting, but she was not angry when she died and she disliked weapons.

Wiens shot her out of anger and placed a kitchen knife in her hand to make it look like self-defence, Forsyth said.

At the sentencing, Justice Geoff Barrow called the shooting senseless, impulsive and fuelled by alcohol.

The Crown was seeking a 15-year minimum sentence and the defence wanted a term of 10 to 12 years, while the jury had recommended at least 20 years before parole eligibility.

In January of 2016, Wiens, the former Summerland Mountie, discovered he had lost the appeal of his second-degree murder conviction.

A B.C. Court of Appeal panel unanimously rejected overturning the conviction against Wiens.

He was fighting both the conviction and a 13-year minimum sentence before parole eligibility.

In a decision posted online, the court rejected arguments from Wiens that certain evidence was improperly admitted, including details from Kalmring’s ex-husbands of her peaceful disposition.

Also rejected was Wiens’ argument that the trial judge was wrong in not allowing him to use evidence he was acting in a manner consistent with his police training.

During the trial, Wiens claimed he shot Kalmring in the face as she pointed a large knife at his throat, but the Crown presented evidence the knife was planted after she was shot and the jury rejected the claim of self defence.

Kalmring died as a result of a single shot to her face from a pistol fired by Wiens.

The trial heard numerous times the couple had been arguing over money. Wiens was then a school bus driver while Kalmring was not working.

According to details recapped in the appeal court judgment, Wiens called 911 shortly after midnight on Aug. 16 to report he had shot his wife two minutes before.

He told the 911 operator he was an ex-policeman and that what happened “is just a huge mistake” and that “something got out of hand here tonight.”

Police arrived at the residence about 12:30 a.m. They found Kalmring’s body on the floor in the master bedroom. The shot came from Wiens’ nine millimetre semi-automatic pistol, which police located in a holster on the bed.

Kalmring’s left arm was extended at almost a 90-degree angle from her body. There was a large knife in her left hand, pointing downwards.

At trial, the Crown’s position was the knife had been planted in Kalmring’s hand after she was shot.

The Crown called expert medical evidence to support that position.  Wiens called expert medical evidence to support his position that the knife had not been planted.

The trial heard about a size difference between Wiens (five-foot-10, 200 pounds) and Kalmring (five-foot-six, 150 pounds, and that Wiens was a skilled RCMP veteran who could defend himself.

Prosecutors said Kalmring had thrown $2,000 (U.S.) and a ring at Wiens during the argument, but trial judge Geoff Barrow concluded: “It’s highly unlikely she would attack him with or without a knife.”

Wiens had been a Mountie for 26 years, much of it in Summerland. He retired in 2001.

In August of 2017, it was revealed Wiens was still battling Kalmring’s family in court over division of their estate.

According to the CBC, Wiens was still fighting Kalmring’s family over the division of $500,000 in joint assets, which included homes in Penticton and Arizona.

Wiens reportedly continued to deny responsibility for Kalmring’s death and was acting as his own defense lawyer while behind bars in an Ontario prison, which has complicated matters and contributed to Kalmring family’s $45,000 in legal bills.

“This can, therefore, only be viewed as vindictive and callous and targeted to cause further trauma and grief to the family,” Kalmring family lawyer Christopher Watson wrote in a letter to Wiens, the CBC reported.

Kalmring’s sister told the national broadcaster the family continues to feel victimized and dreads the prospect of potentially facing Wiens in person in court.

“I haven’t even had time to grieve for my sister because from the moment he shot her I’ve been fighting for her,” said Irwin, who is also the executrix of Kalmring’s estate.

“It’s not like we’re asking for anything more than she would be entitled to if it were a divorce. That’s the disturbing part of this.”

Wiens later took his case to the Supreme Court of Canada, which in 2016 declined to hear his appeal.

At the time of his arrest, Wiens was working as a bus driver for the Okanagan Skaha School District, then placed on unpaid leave after his arrest while awaiting the outcome of his trial.

In June 2015, an arbitrator ordered the school district to pay Wiens a $2,300 retirement benefit sought on his behalf by the Canadian Union of Public Employees.

It was also reported that in October 2019, less than halfway through a 13-year period of parole ineligibility, Wiens had been granted escorted absences from prison.

The Parole Board of Canada believed escorted absences would help Wiens, then 64, begin readjusting to society ahead of full parole.

Such outings “would allow you to volunteer in the community at non-profit organizations, and enable you to give back to the community,” the board wrote in its decision.

“The (outings) will provide you the opportunity to engage with pro-social individuals. Further, the (outings) will be the first step in assisting in your rehabilitation by reinforcing pro-social behaviours and attitudes, particularly given your lengthy period of incarceration.

“You will be able to work to earn trust and demonstrate credibility. You told the board that you have a history of volunteerism and have skills to contribute to the community. Given this information, the board concludes it is desirable for you to be absent from the penitentiary,” the decision concluded.

Wiens was able to leave the prison – the location of which was redacted in documents obtained by The Herald – for up to eight hours at a time, but no more than 40 hours per month.

While out, he was accompanied by a trained citizen volunteer or Correctional Service of Canada employee and “be under close supervision within sight and sound, except for short washroom breaks,” the decision noted.

Another condition attached to the outings required Wiens to immediately report to his parole supervisor all sexual and non-sexual relationships with females.

Wiens is described in the documents as being at “high risk of violence in an intimate relationship.”

The board was told Wiens had finally accepted responsibility for killing Kalmring and realized he failed to recognize warning signs leading up to the shooting.

“In discussing your relationship with the victim, you told the board that you two had a mostly positive relationship. However, you now realize that you had a growing underlying animosity towards her,” the decision noted.

“She wanted to marry and you did not, but you bought her a diamond ring, and put your Arizona home jointly in her name as a show of ‘good faith.’ You agreed this may have been naive and on your part as such actions give the appearance of commitment.”

During his time in prison, Wiens has followed the rules, according to the parole board decision, but he’s been assessed as “challenging to work with and passive-aggressive during many interactions with staff.”

And despite having lost an appeal of his conviction in 2016, Wiens nonetheless continues to fight through a civilian complaint against the RCMP and is asking the federal Minister of Justice to review his conviction.

— This story was originally published by the Penticton Herald.

News from © iNFOnews, 2024