The husband of slain RCMP officer Const. Sarah Beckett says he had no notice of a Monday morning parole board hearing for Kenneth Jacob Fenton, the man serving time for his wife’s death.
Fenton was sentenced to four years in prison for killing Beckett in April 2016, when he was driving drunk and sped through a red light in Langford. His pickup truck crashed into the police cruiser driven by Beckett.
She was killed in the crash, leaving behind a husband and two young boys.
Fenton was subsequently sentenced to an additional 18 months for another drunk driving crash.
On Monday, Fenton was granted limited day parole for the purpose of attending alcohol abuse treatment, after he told a parole board panel in Abbotsford that driving drunk was the “most devastating decision” he has ever made.
Beckett's husband Bradley Aschenbrenner told CTV News he had no notice of today’s hearing, but would have attended it in person if he did.
He said he felt blindsided when he was notified of the hearing by a reporter the night before it took place.
"For me to get a phone call catches you off guard. I'm just physically and emotionally set back," he said. "It's something that's truly unbearable."
He said that he has reached out to the parole board, who told him they would investigate why he wasn't notified of the hearing.
Aschenbrenner, who is American, has previously spoken out about his frustration with Canada's legal system.
"The whole judicial system failed. Failed my family, Sarah and the RCMP, ” he said. “I thought the parole board would give me a little more light at the end of the tunnel, but now I have more of a sour taste.”
He added that he disagreed with the decision to allow Fenton to get treatment outside of jail.
“I don’t understand why he needs to be in the public to do this," he said.
With files from The Canadian Press.
