A shoulder patch on a correctional officer is shown at the Collins Bay Institution in Kingston, Ont., on Tuesday, May 10, 2016. The Correctional Service of Canada is defending its decision to uphold Paul Bernardo's privacy rights, as the federal public safety minister says Canadians deserve to know why he was moved to a medium-security prison. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Lars Hagberg
OTTAWA – The lawyer for the families of two of Paul Bernardo’s victims says the Correctional Service of Canada only told one of them that he was being transferred from maximum-security prison on the day it happened.
Tim Danson says the family of Kristen French was notified of the convicted killer’s transfer in the morning of May 29, then told his transfer was complete that afternoon.
The details are in an open letter Danson penned to Anne Kelly, the commissioner of the federal correctional service, who confirmed that Bernardo’s transfer to a medium-security prison in Quebec is under review.
Bernardo is serving a life sentence for the murders, kidnapping and torture of 15-year-old French and 14-year-old Leslie Mahaffy in the early 1990s.
Danson’s letter expresses concerns with statements from the correctional service that said the French and Mahaffy families were notified of Bernardo’s transfer prior to his relocation.
The lawyer says he found out about it via two voicemails on the day of the transfer, and the Mahaffy family was left with the impression that the transfer had taken place or was imminent.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 9, 2023.
