Tomorrow, the murderer of Cst. Tom Agar, as well as 3 others, will be granted unsupervised day parole. All going well, he will be released fully by September. A cold blooded killer allowed to walk the streets.

I first mentioned Cst. Agar in my rambling, emotional post after the Mayerthorpe tragedy. I was 10 years old when he was gunned down at the local RCMP detachment, and it affected me deeply. My brother had recently graduated the academy and this happened in my hometown. However, I was factually incorrect on a few things...given my age, and the years, my memory was hazy. I have since had the chance to become aware of the case a little more deeply and I think it's one that definitely bears remembrance.

Cst. Agar was working front counter on the evening of September 19, 1980. 26 years old, and a 4 year veteran of the force, he was certainly not expecting that day was the day he would not be coming home. His wife was pregnant with their second daughter, and he was eagerly looking forward to the new addition to the family. I originally blogged that she went into premature labour upon the news, but I was remiss there. While she certainly must have gone through absolute hell, that was not one of the things she had to go through.

Stephen LeClair, meanwhile, had spent the day drinking in a bar in downtown-eastside Vancouver. After being kicked out, presumably for unacceptable behaviour, he returned with a gun and murdered 3 other people (2 men and a woman) before carjacking a couple and forcing them to drive to the Richmond RCMP detachment. For those not familiar with the geography, it would have been about a half-hour drive.

He entered the police detachment to find Cst. Agar at the front desk. LeClair asked him "How fast can you draw ?", and shot him point blank in the chest. The ensuing moments saw another officer shot and wounded, but he was able to return fire and wounded LeClair. He was then taken into custody without further incident.

This man took 4 people away from their families and loved ones, let alone two children who will never really know their father. It was in cold blood. Pure evil. This waste of skin knew exactly what his intentions were. It scarred our community and fellow officers and forever took away the innocence of 'front desk duty'. It is situations like these where I strongly feel we should consider bringing back capital punishment. Evil people like Clifford Robert Olson, Paul Bernardo and cold blooded cop killers have no place in our society.

Since the incident, a brick wall was erected in the local detachment to allow for safety of those working front desk. However, I don't believe it's standard practice, and have seen other detachments, both RCMP and City that don't have the same level of safety available to their officers.

Now this man will be granted freedom. 25 years have passed, but has he been rehabilitated? Someone who tried to use the excuse that 'he was too drunk too have control' could truly be able to be part of a civilized society? He killed 4 people and seriously wounded another in his drunken stupor, not to mention traumatized the people who were forced to drive him to his tragic destination. It saddens me that he is even given a chance again.

update: The killer's parole has now been delayed until June. Well, at least it's a few more months!