A man serving a prison sentence for leading an assault, kidnapping and extortion of an elderly man will remain behind bars for the time being after his bid for release on parole was denied.
Wayne Victor Willier, 40, is serving five years, four months and 17 days for putting the 67-year-old victim through a near three-day ordeal in February 2014.
An unjustified accusation that the man was a pedophile was used as the excuse for the attack. Leading as many as eight people, Willier repeatedly hit the man in the head, pointed a pistol at his face and took his keys, cellphone and bank card from him, according to both court findings and a Parole Board of Canada decision.
The victim was also forced to provide the personal identification number for his bank card and because his pension cheque had been deposited, they were able to withdraw about $500 from the man's account and make some purchases using his bank card adding up to a further $300.
He was held in a room for about 30 hours before escaping and came out with bruising severe enough to swell his eyes shut as well as a fractured nose and headaches in the weeks that followed.
The court heard he had pointed a pellet gun at the man, but according to the parole board decision Willier said he used a nine-millimetre handgun and refused to say where he got the weapon.
Sentenced in January 2016, Willier was transferred to a maximum security institute in April 2018 after assaulting another inmate. Other than to say the other inmate entered his cell, Williere refused discuss what precipitated the conflict when asked during a hearing before a parole board panel.
Willier "seemed incredulous" when asked who won, and said he did, according to the decision.
"The Board finds your attitude and demeanour in discussing this incident suggested that you continue to endorse violence as a means of solving problems you encounter," the panel said in the decision. "The Board is also concerned about your willingness to use violence within the highly supervised and structured environment of the institution."
While Willier's behaviour has improved since he was returned to a medium security institute about three months ago, the panel found that the change was very recent and that he has limited insight into his violent offending.
"The Board has also placed weight on the professional psychological opinion that you are at a very high risk to cause serious harm or death to another person before the end of your sentence and any release at this time would result in significant risk to the public," the panel said. "Finally, you do not have a viable release plan and the Board finds there is no supervision plan that would adequately protect the public."
The full decision, issued April 10, is posted with this story at princegeorgecitizen.com.
