Warning: This story has disturbing details about a murder.
Teen killer Kruse Wellwood has been denied both day parole and escorted temporary absences for the second time in nine months, his victim’s family confirmed Friday.
Wellwood is serving a life sentence for the murder of 18-year-old Kimberly Proctor in March 2010. Wellwood, then 16, and Cameron Moffat, 17, lured the Grade 12 student to Wellwood’s home in Langford, tied her up, gagged her, sexually assaulted her, beat her, suffocated her and mutilated her body with a knife over several hours.
They then put her body in a freezer, and the next day travelled to the Galloping Goose Trail and set it on fire. Her badly burned body was found under a bridge on the trail on March 19, 2010.
The teens pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and were given a life sentence in 2011 with no possibility of parole for 10 years. They were both eligible for day parole in 2018.
In 2019, Wellwood applied for day parole and escorted temporary absences. At a hearing Aug. 14, the Parole Board of Canada denied his request, concluding that he presented a risk to society.
Friday’s hearing was held by teleconference, with members of the Proctor family listening in and delivering victim-impact statements. The board said it could not accommodate the Times Colonist’s request to listen to the hearing, but will email a written copy of the decision when it is available.
Kimberly’s aunt Jo-Anne Landolt said the parole board members made the decision to deny Wellwood’s request in less than 10 minutes.
“He told the parole board he wanted the escorted day passes because he wanted to go to church on Sundays, which is ridiculous because they have chaplains in prison,” said Landolt. “He’s just so messed up and basically everything is about him.”
When parole-board members questioned Wellwood about his difficulties in prison, Wellwood responded that they weren’t his fault, said Landolt.
“He’s a control freak and he feels that the programs in the correctional service aren’t adequate. He thinks he’s smarter than anybody else. But the parole board was blunt and they called him on that. He’s not pulling the wool over anybody’s eyes.”
The weeks leading up to the hearing have been harrowing for the Proctor family and Landolt said she’s relieved it’s over.
According to the parole board, an offender who is denied day parole must wait one year to make another application. Offenders can apply for escorted temporary absences at any time during their sentence.
“It’s ridiculous. We could be going through this again and again and again, and who know when Cameron’s going to start trying?” Landolt said. “We’re not going to see the end of this until they are dead or they are released.”
In her video-recorded victim-impact statement, Landolt asked whether Wellwood thinks he actually had a chance of being released.
“Or did he enjoy thinking our family is devastated, going through another hearing so soon within the 10th anniversary of Kimmy’s murder?”
Kimberly’s grandmother, Linda Proctor, said the hearing was a waste of taxpayers’ money and everyone’s time.
“Why were we there? Right off the bat, we knew he wasn’t going to get it. He was very arrogant and that came across. Everything was everybody’s fault but his own.”
Listening to Wellwood’s voice makes her cringe, said Proctor. “I’ve always been a person who believed everybody had some good in them. But I don’t believe this boy has any good in him. I think he says what you want to hear.
“At his sentencing, they all said he’d need 30 to 45 years of intense therapy before there would be any improvements.”
Like her daughter, Linda Proctor is worried Wellwood will keep applying for day parole or escorted absences any chance he gets.
“I wake every single morning thinking of Kim and what she went through at Wellwood’s hands. That has not changed, except the thoughts became more intense after the last hearing. It doesn’t go away, and thinking about what she went through is beyond horrific,” she said.
The August 2019 parole board decision noted that Kimberly was not Wellwood or Moffat’s first choice of victim. Wellwood initially identified two possible victims, but they were not able to meet him, so he targeted Kimberly.
The decision referred to psychological and psychiatric assessments completed in 2011 for the court.
The psychologist found Wellwood met the diagnosis of both psychopathy and sexual sadism, which means he is at particularly high risk to reoffend.
A psychiatrist found Wellwood had strong psychopathic traits, a deviant sexual disorder in the form of sadism and indications of necrophlilia.
The most recent psychological assessment, completed in July 2019, found his risk for general and violent reoffending is high, the decision said.
Wellwood scored in the 96th percentile on the psychopathy checklist. He has also reacted violently on multiple occasions, kicking and punching the unit fridge or his cell door when in an agitated state.
