Winnipeg man who stabbed wife to death in 1994 granted day parole in B.C. | 24CA News

WARNING: This story comprises distressing particulars.

A person who stabbed his spouse to dying on a busy Winnipeg avenue in 1994 has been granted day parole for the primary time in 5 years and will likely be allowed to go to seven municipalities in B.C.’s Fraser Valley, a Parole Board of Canada determination says.

Bruce Stewner, now 57, is serving a life sentence for the grotesque killing of his estranged spouse, Kelly Lynn Stewner, on May 6, 1994.

He stabbed her 20 instances in entrance of bystanders after she ran from their automotive on Portage Avenue in entrance of Assiniboine Park. As he attacked her, he informed her she deserved it.

At the time of the homicide, he was violating a restraining order.

Stewner started serving his sentence in February 1995.

Despite being assessed as having a reasonable to excessive threat to reoffend, he will likely be allowed to journey throughout the Fraser Valley space for a interval of six months, starting Dec. 19.

Stewner had prior stints on parole which ended when he violated situations positioned on him.

He was first granted day parole in 2012. In 2013, he went again to jail after utilizing substances and failing to report two intimate relationships. In 2016, he was granted parole once more, which resulted in 2017 because of alcohol use, failing to report a relationship and threatening one other particular person, based on the PBC.

A lady who says she is his newest sufferer — and the rationale he landed again in jail in 2017 — fears for her life realizing he will likely be out on parole in lower than two weeks.

“My safety is not put first. It just feels like his rights come before mine,” the lady informed 24CA News.

The girl, who 24CA News has agreed to not title, was romantically concerned with Stewner for a couple of months when he threatened to kill her.

“He told me if he went back in [to jail] and it was my fault, then he’s going to blow my head off.”

The Nov. 28 parole board determination additionally cited one other incident with a special girl, the place Stewner threatened to “blow her f–king head off” if she didn’t let him see their son.

The girl who spoke to CBC says her life has been turned the other way up since studying about his impending launch.

“I can’t work. I can’t think. I can’t eat. I can’t sleep,” she stated.

She stated she’ll be attempting to go to sleep solely to be jolted awake after dreaming that he is standing in her front room, watching her.

“This is not how I want to live my life,” she stated.

Stewner is aware of the place her family members dwell, she stated, together with her brother and his younger kids.

As lately as February 2020, the convicted killer was reprimanded for inquiring about his victims, together with their location.

He “became elevated and defensive when confronted about [his] behaviour,” the November PBC determination reads. 

The determination additionally cites a historical past of Stewner pushing again relating to launch situations requiring him to report intimate relationships, and any issues which will come up with a companion.

The girl he threatened to kill in 2017 remembers arguing with him about it.

He informed her, “I’m 53 years old. I don’t have to do that. Why should I?”

Stewner was denied parole in June 2020, and once more in February 2021 after an enchantment ordered overview, the PBC says. 

The board’s 2022 determination says that the mixed outcomes of two psychological assessments accomplished in September point out his threat of reoffending is reasonable to excessive.

Previous parole board choices

Stewner’s most up-to-date request for parole is his fourth try in two years.

In February of final 12 months, the PBC famous some enhancements in his psychological testing which elevated his potential to reintegrate efficiently.

Stewner has informed the parole board on multiple event that he hopes to work with native girls’s shelters upon launch to speak about violence and abuse.

Before the board’s overview, Stewner submitted a letter requesting an oral listening to. 

The letter says that he takes points with the content material of a sufferer assertion and his psychological evaluation. 

His former companion from 2017 stated that Stewner typically believes that he’s the sufferer.

“Everything that’s happened in his life happened to him. Even when he killed his wife, that happened to him,” she stated.

At the time of the 1994 homicide, he stated he was in a codependent relationship together with his spouse, and it triggered his violent outburst, however he had no intention of killing her.

When the decide sentenced Stewner, he described the crime as one of the vicious, brutal and violent he had seen.

Support is offered for anybody affected by intimate companion violence. You can entry assist providers and native sources in Canada by visiting this web site. If your scenario is pressing, please contact 911 or emergency providers in your space.

Though some in-person assist providers are closed because of COVID-19, telephone traces and on-line assist stays obtainable for many centres in Manitoba:

• Ikwe Widdjiitiwin: 1-800-362-3344 (toll-free).
• Willow Place Crisis: 204-615-0311 or 1-877-977-0007.
• Provincial disaster line: 1-877-977-0007 (toll-free).
• Brandon Women’s Resource Centre: 204-726-8632 or 1-866-255-4432.