SASKATCHEWAN - The Parole Board of Canada (PBC) has denied day parole for convicted killer Kenneth MacKay.
MacKay, now 51, has been serving a life sentence for first-degree murder of Crystal Paskemin from Sweetgrass First Nation. The parole board’s decision was made after a culturally responsive hearing concluding that MacKay’s release would pose an "undue risk to society,” and his release won’t facilitate his reintegration as a law-abiding citizen.
“Your inability to control your disinhibitors is aggravating,” the board said in its Feb. 18 decision. “Similarly, your recent performance on community release is aggravating, and your release plan is insufficient to manage your assessed risk to reoffend.”
In January 2023, McKay was granted day parole for a period of six months and he was released to a half-way house in British Columbia. In July 2023, his day parole was extended for another six months.
In September 2023, MacKay’s day parole was suspended after a woman told Victoria police he was stalking her daughter.
The girl’s mother previously told SaskToday that MacKay had befriended her at his flagging job in Victoria, B.C., and then began to stalk her. Victoria police confirmed that they had arrested MacKay.
According to parole documents, MacKay had befriended a female co-worker and went to her home.
“Your interest in her was unreciprocated and continued even after she blocked your number, leading her to report harassment to the police,” said the board.
During a search of MacKay’s room at the half-way house, authorities found a box of condoms. A search of his cell phone found photos and text messages he had made with several other unreported relationships with women from May to September 2023.
In November 2023, the parole board revoked his parole.
Warning: Details may be disturbing to some.
In December 2000, Mackay brutally murdered 21-year-old Crystal Paskemin from Sweetgrass First Nation. Two years later, a Saskatoon jury convicted him on a first-degree murder charge.
In 2002, Mackay was sentenced to life in prison with no parole eligibility for 25 years.
Mackay’s Institutional Parole Officer wrote in her report that she had concerns about his inability to accept “no” for an answer, and inability to accept denials or refusals. He attacked Paskemin after she told him "no." At the time of Paskemin’s rape and murder, Mackay was “harbouring anger towards the women” in his life and his failed relationships, said a parole report.
Paskemin was on a girl’s night out at the Longbranch in Saskatoon, and after watching her from a distance, MacKay approached her and offered her a ride home, said Paskemin’s sister Tanya.
Mackay’s parole documents reveal that he violently sexually assaulted Paskemin in his truck. She managed to escape but he continued to attack her outside of his truck, including hitting her on the jaw with his fist with such force that her jaw was broken. He then drove his truck over Paskemin’s head, crushing it.
“You set the victim's body on fire and dragged her body behind your truck for a considerable distance before digging a crude grave and dumping the victim's body into it,” read the parole documents. “You then fled and tried to destroy evidence. The victim was found naked with the exception of one sock.”
McKay lit her body on fire and dragged her body in his truck by a chain down an icy grid road. He then dug a shallow grave, tossed Paskemin in it, and covered her with snow, said the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations when speaking out in January 2023 against Mackay’s day parole.
Banned from Saskatchewan
Parole documents reveal that Mackay is banned from Saskatchewan. They also reveal that there continues to be concerns about Mackay’s power and control issues. The board said he has possible issues with women and their expected role in relationships. A psychologist concluded that he was a high risk for violent re-offending.
MacKay is Metis on his mother’s side and wasn’t taught about his Indigenous history or culture. His parents separated when he was very young and he had limited contact with his father. He was, however, raised in a pro-social home that was free of abuse.
He had to repeat Grade 4 and developed an increasingly negative attitude towards school, engaging in truancy and bullying, incurring several suspensions, and ultimately dropping out without graduating, according to parole documents.
His mother surrendered him to foster care at about the age of 14 due to his problematic behaviour. He started drinking. He has a history of gambling and engaging in domestic abuse, controlling behaviour and infidelity.
The board said MacKay became an “angry person with emotional management problems who offended with violence.”
A 2024 Correctional Services Canada Psychological Risk Assessment (PRA) assessed MacKay as a relatively moderate to high risk of sexual or general violence in the community. The report said his risk would be manageable on Escorted Temporary Absences (ETAs), or day passes, or a transfer to a minimum-security prison, but he wasn’t ready for day parole.
The board said MacKay has maintained his sobriety for an extended period of time and hasn’t initiated violence since he murdered Paskemin.
The PRA report said that he expresses feelings of empathy and remorse and has taken full responsibility for the murder he committed. But it also notes that he continues to rationalize and justify the circumstances of his recent day parole suspension, minimizes aspects of his index offence, and showed no remorse or victim empathy.
No community residential facilities accepting McKay
MacKay had identified Vancouver Island as his preferred release for day parole because he has family there. But he wasn’t offered accommodation by any of the local community residential facilities (CRFs) that were asked so he then identified the Lower Mainland area of B.C. as an alternative. He doesn’t have any community supports in that area and wasn’t accepted by any of the CRFs that were asked.
