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An Ottawa man who has spent more than two decades in prison for a notorious Elgin Street murder — the drive-by shooting of British engineer Nick Battersby — has been granted the right to begin his reintegration into the community.
The Parole Board of Canada has authorized Rubens Henderson, 37, to take two unescorted temporary absences during the next six months.
Henderson will stay for three days at a time in a residential facility in an unnamed Ontario city, according to a parole board decision released Thursday. Unescorted absences are considered a vital stepping stone towards full parole.
Henderson was only 16 years old when he went on a drug and alcohol-fuelled crime spree with two friends that culminated at the corner of Elgin and Gilmour Street on March 25, 1994. At 7:25 p.m., on that mild Sunday evening, Henderson pointed a stolen rifle out the window of a stolen Jeep, levelled it the direction of a pedestrian and pulled the trigger.
Battersby, 27, an integrated circuits expert who had only recently arrived in Ottawa to work at Bell-Northern Research, was shot through the heart. He died face down on the sidewalk.
Rubens Henderson in 1996.
A court would later hear evidence that Henderson had been trying to hit Battersby in the buttocks. Instead, the bullet struck the tall young man square in the back.
“I’d like to apologize to the Battersby family for what I’ve done and all the pain I’ve caused them,” Henderson told the judge who sentenced him to life in prison with no eligibility of parole for seven years. “I had no intention of killing Nicholas and I’m really sorry I did.”
Sentenced as an adult, Henderson became eligible for parole in March 2001. He now has spent more than 21 years in prison.
During his late November parole hearing, Henderson told the board that on the night of the murder he “acted impulsively to please others in the vehicle” who urged him to shoot a pedestrian.
At the time, Henderson said, he harboured a lot of anger about his childhood, and suffered from low self-esteem and poor emotional control. Born in Brazil, Henderson was placed in an orphanage and adopted by an Ottawa public servant who brought him to Canada as an eight-year-old. Here he had difficulty at school, defied authority and eventually entered the child welfare system.
A 2014 psychological assessment of Henderson rated him as a moderate risk for violent recidivism and recommended that his return to society be “slow and monitored.”
In prison, Henderson has completed substance abuse and anger management programs and has finished his high school education. He has also gone on 40 escorted temporary absences without incident.
“You have a clear plan to ensure you avoid high-risk situations and you are motivated to get on with your life in (a) pro-social manner,” the board concluded in approving Henderson for two unescorted three-day community visits. Henderson had been seeking two 10-day passes.
The two teenagers in the Jeep on the night of Battersby’s murder, Cory Cyr and Brian Raymond, both pleaded guilty to manslaughter and were long ago released from prison.
Battersby, who held a PhD in electrical engineering from London’s Imperial College, loved travel, photography, classical music and fine whisky. He was on his way to a birthday party on the night he was killed.
His shocking murder caused an uproar in Ottawa and led to calls for stricter gun control, tougher young offender laws and a crackdown on violent crime.
aduffy@ottawacitizen.com
查看原文...
The Parole Board of Canada has authorized Rubens Henderson, 37, to take two unescorted temporary absences during the next six months.
Henderson will stay for three days at a time in a residential facility in an unnamed Ontario city, according to a parole board decision released Thursday. Unescorted absences are considered a vital stepping stone towards full parole.
Henderson was only 16 years old when he went on a drug and alcohol-fuelled crime spree with two friends that culminated at the corner of Elgin and Gilmour Street on March 25, 1994. At 7:25 p.m., on that mild Sunday evening, Henderson pointed a stolen rifle out the window of a stolen Jeep, levelled it the direction of a pedestrian and pulled the trigger.
Battersby, 27, an integrated circuits expert who had only recently arrived in Ottawa to work at Bell-Northern Research, was shot through the heart. He died face down on the sidewalk.
Rubens Henderson in 1996.
A court would later hear evidence that Henderson had been trying to hit Battersby in the buttocks. Instead, the bullet struck the tall young man square in the back.
“I’d like to apologize to the Battersby family for what I’ve done and all the pain I’ve caused them,” Henderson told the judge who sentenced him to life in prison with no eligibility of parole for seven years. “I had no intention of killing Nicholas and I’m really sorry I did.”
Sentenced as an adult, Henderson became eligible for parole in March 2001. He now has spent more than 21 years in prison.
During his late November parole hearing, Henderson told the board that on the night of the murder he “acted impulsively to please others in the vehicle” who urged him to shoot a pedestrian.
At the time, Henderson said, he harboured a lot of anger about his childhood, and suffered from low self-esteem and poor emotional control. Born in Brazil, Henderson was placed in an orphanage and adopted by an Ottawa public servant who brought him to Canada as an eight-year-old. Here he had difficulty at school, defied authority and eventually entered the child welfare system.
A 2014 psychological assessment of Henderson rated him as a moderate risk for violent recidivism and recommended that his return to society be “slow and monitored.”
In prison, Henderson has completed substance abuse and anger management programs and has finished his high school education. He has also gone on 40 escorted temporary absences without incident.
“You have a clear plan to ensure you avoid high-risk situations and you are motivated to get on with your life in (a) pro-social manner,” the board concluded in approving Henderson for two unescorted three-day community visits. Henderson had been seeking two 10-day passes.
The two teenagers in the Jeep on the night of Battersby’s murder, Cory Cyr and Brian Raymond, both pleaded guilty to manslaughter and were long ago released from prison.
Battersby, who held a PhD in electrical engineering from London’s Imperial College, loved travel, photography, classical music and fine whisky. He was on his way to a birthday party on the night he was killed.
His shocking murder caused an uproar in Ottawa and led to calls for stricter gun control, tougher young offender laws and a crackdown on violent crime.
aduffy@ottawacitizen.com
查看原文...
