Patrick Kelly, shown in an undated photo, is a former RCMP undercover officer convicted of killing his wife.HANDOUT/The Canadian Press
A former Mountie who was convicted of throwing his wife from their 17th-floor Toronto balcony more than 30 years ago has lost his bid to regain full parole, after a ruling by the National Parole Board's appeals division.
Patrick Kelly was granted full parole in 2010 for the first-degree murder of his wife, Jeanette, and among the conditions was a requirement to report any relationship with women to his parole supervisor.
But Kelly failed to report the relationships he had with two women, and in November, 2012, the board revoked his parole.
Kelly appealed, arguing the board was biased, the decision was unreasonable and was based on erroneous and incomplete information. But he lost his challenge, according to the ruling released Tuesday but dated May 16.
"Given your violent index offence, which resulted in the death of your spouse, and the fact that you breached your special condition to report relationships more than once, we find that it was not unreasonable for the board to revoke your full day parole," wrote board member D. Jolette in the ruling.
Jolette said the board found Kelly's "deceitful behaviour" was consistent with past patterns, adding he was involved in an affair at the time of his wife's death and two others prior to the offence.
The board found Kelly lacked "in-depth insight" into his actions and was unaware of the "warning signs" that indicated he had placed himself in a high-risk situation, said Jolette.
It also found Kelly was at risk of reoffending because he wasn't transparent with his case-management team and didn't seek psychological counselling, Jolette added.
"The board's decision is consistent with the protection of society, which is the paramount consideration in the determination of any case, and is limited only to what is necessary and proportionate to the purpose of conditional release," Jolette stated.
Kelly was convicted in 1983 of killing his wife, who plunged to her death from the couple's luxury condominium on Toronto's waterfront. He has always argued her death was an accident.
The Crown argued during his trial that the former undercover Mountie was attempting to cash in on his wife's large life-insurance policy, and the court heard that he and a mistress visited Hawaii shortly after his wife's funeral.
He appealed but the Ontario Court of Appeal rejected his bid for a new trial.
In December, 2004, Kelly's day parole was suspended, after he was accused of fraud and breached a condition that required him to report all financial dealings to his parole officer.
He was found not guilty of fraud, but his day parole was revoked the following year for failing to report his financial activities and for failing to report a long-term relationship.
When he was granted full parole in 2010, Kelly's parole hearing heard he had been living in north-central British Columbia and at a community residential facility. The hearing also heard he'd started a restoration business, was working on vehicles and furniture and was doing minor home renovations.