Alberta murder victim's parents, MP criticize top court's decision on parole ineligibility

The parents of a 35-year-old man who was shot dead on the University of Alberta campus in Edmonton a decade ago say they are angry about a recent Supreme Court decision that could allow their son's killer to be eligible for parole much earlier than expected.

Travis Baumgartner, an armoured car guard who pleaded guilty to fatally shooting three of his colleagues in June 2012, was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 40 years.

But thanks to a recent Supreme Court decision, he could be eligible for parole in 15 years.

Dianne and Mike Ilesic, whose son, Brian Ilesic, was one of Baumgartner's victims, criticized the decision at a news conference Tuesday.

"Both Mike and I feel deflated because of what the Supreme Court did," Dianne Ilesic said.

She said she and her husband have lost confidence in the federal government because it has not taken steps to counteract the decision.

Canadians convicted of first-degree murder receive an automatic sentence of life in prison without parole for 25 years. 

Stephen Harper's Conservative federal government introduced a sentencing provision in 2011 that gave judges the ability to stack periods of parole ineligibility for multiple murders.

In a unanimous ruling last month, the Supreme Court found that provision was unconstitutional because it violated Section 12 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Section 12 protects the right to not receive cruel and unusual punishment.

"Such sentences are degrading in nature and thus incompatible with human dignity, because they deny offenders any possibility of reintegration into society," wrote Chief Justice Richard Wagner in the decision.

Baumgartner was the first person in Canada to be sentenced under the new provision. 

His lawyer, Peter Royal, has not yet responded to an interview request.

The Ilesics are constituents of Conservative MP Michael Cooper, who hosted Tuesday's press conference at a hotel in northwest Edmonton.

The St. Albert-Edmonton MP, who has known the couple since 2016, called the Supreme Court decision "unjust and outrageous."