VANCOUVER - A former Mountie convicted of first-degree murder has been granted escorted, overnight leave privileges even after his parole was repeatedly suspended or revoked because he was “being deceitful.”
Patrick Kelly, who once lived in Prince George, was convicted in 1983 for throwing his wife off the 17th-floor balcony of their Toronto apartment.
Kelly, 64, was originally granted day parole in 2003. Since then, his parole has been revoked and granted several times for failing to disclose financial dealings or relationships with women.
A November board decision that was just released to the media said Kelly is manipulative and greedy, has used the Internet to develop female friendships even though he's been banned from using computers and continues to push the boundaries with his supervisors.
Despite that, the board concluded he does not present an undue risk and can remain on day parole, but he will have to be escorted for overnight leaves to attend medical treatments in B.C.'s Lower Mainland.
The ruling said parole board members discussed with Kelly his history of deceit and manipulation.
“You admitted to having been self-centred, deceptive and manipulative in the past,” the decision said. “You insisted that during your last release you were diligent in being open until your health issues, followed by heavy drinking, resulted in your relapse to deceptive behaviour.”
The documents did not detail Kelly's health problems.
The former undercover officer was granted full parole in 2010, but the board reversed his release in August 2012 after he failed to report two relationships with women. At the time, Kelly had been living in Prince George, where he was operating an antiques store.
One of those women filed a complaint with the national (parole) monitoring centre, which led to his arrest. She was concerned for the safety of other women because he delayed telling her he had been convicted of killing his wife until after he had established an intimate relationship with her.
The woman who was with Kelly at his residence when he was arrested claimed she was involved in an intimate relationship with him but was unaware of his criminal history.
At the time of his wife Jeannette's murder, Kelly had been involved in three extramarital affairs and was seeing another woman.
Since his latest day-parole release in June 2014, Kelly admitted to accessing Internet dating sites and making contact with several women without revealing his criminal past, the board noted.
“You expect any future relationships may be intimate in different ways due to your health issues, and you do not want to return to prison because your health issues have resulted in your realization of your fallibility.”
The document said Kelly lives somewhere in B.C. outside Metro Vancouver and operated an antique store, but his exact location has not been disclosed.
His request to move to the Lower Mainland and pursue his antique business wasn't supported by his case-management team, the decision stated.
Kelly has always denied killing his wife, claiming her fall from their luxury condo on Toronto's waterfront was an accident.
The Crown told his trial that Kelly was attempting to cash in on his wife's large life insurance policy. Court heard that he and another woman went on a Hawaiian vacation shortly after his wife's funeral.
Kelly is to abide by a number of conditions while on day parole, including not consuming alcohol, reporting all relationships with females, providing financial information to a supervisor and not using a computer or cell phone that has access to the Internet.
- with files from Ted Clarke
