M.P. calls for mass murderer to stay in prison
WARNING THIS STORY CONTAINS GRAPHIC CONTENT
The man responsible for one of B.C.’s most horrific mass murders will have a parole hearing this July and a petition is underway to keep David Ennis (formerly Shearing) in federal prison.
On Aug. 2, 1982, Ennis shot grandparents, George and Edith Bentley, and parents, Bob and Jackie Johnson, at their campsite in Wells Gray Park.
He than raped and tortured 13-year-old Janet and 11-year-old Karen Johnson for days before killing them and putting the bodies in the truck of the family car with the four adults and set the car on fire, leaving the bodies nearly unidentifiable.
Thousand of hours went into the investigation, with tips from across the country. On Nov. 19, 1983, he was arrested near Kamloops on an unrelated matter and eventually linked to the killings.
He lived in the Wells Gray area most of his life.
He pleaded guilty to six counts of murder on Apr. 16, 1984, and was sentenced to six concurrent terms of life imprisonment with no possibility of parole for 25 years.
He married a woman named Heather, from Prince Albert, Sask. in 1995.
He is currently incarcerated at the Bowden Institution South of Red Deer, Alberta.
“It was seven years ago that I had an opportunity to hand deliver a petition from over 15,000 concerned citizens of the Okanagan (15,258 to be exact) to former Conservative Justice Minister, Steven Blaney, opposing the parole release of David Ennis,” Central Okanagan-Similkameen-Nicola, M.P. Dan Albas stated in a media release. “This painful event once again haunts the family and friends of the victims.”
West Kelowna resident Tammy Arishenkoff was a classmate of the Johnson girls, and is again petitioning to keep Ennis behind bars.
“Ennis was denied parole in 2008 and again in 2012 for numerous issues…In 2014 and 2016, he opted out of his legislated parole hearing opportunities,” Arishenkoff stated.
The petition at change.org has already garnered over 31,000 signatures.
“We must always remember the victims in acts of deplorable and senseless violence,” Albas said. “My question this week, will you sign this petition?”