PORT ALBERNI — A man who murdered an 11-year-old girl in Port Alberni in 1996 has waived his right to have a parole hearing this year.
Roderick (Roddy) Patten was given a life sentence after being convicted of first-degree murder for killing Jessica States on July 31, 1996. Her body was discovered the next day in a wooded area off Port Alberni’s Gyro Recreation Park, not far from the family home.
Jessica had been at the park to watch a baseball tournament.
Parole Board of Canada Prairies regional office spokesman Gary Sears said Patten has been eligible for full parole since Aug. 10, 2009, and for unescorted temporary absences and day parole since Aug. 11, 2007.
“Offenders can waive their right to a parole hearing,” he said. “Patten will not be up for parole again until 2015.”
Patten also waived his right to parole hearings in 2007, 2009 and 2011.
Sears said Patten could waive his right for a parole hearing in perpetuity and remain incarcerated for life.
If he had not waived his right, the board would have been compelled to consider him for full parole.
Patten was charged with killing Jessica on Aug. 11, 1999, following a lengthy RCMP investigation using forensic DNA technology that linked him to her sexual assault and murder.
He was 17 at the time of the crime. An application to try him as a young offender was eventually withdrawn. But because of his age, his period of parole eligibility was reduced to less than 10 years, instead of the minimum of 25 years imposed on adult offenders.
Patten was tried in B.C. Supreme Court in Victoria.
Sears said Patten’s location cannot be revealed. But parole board spokesman Patrick Storey said Patten is not in B.C.
