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BC Bank Robber Loses Parole Plea
Parole board rejects bank robber-author Reid's request to relax day-parole
VICTORIA - He looks more like an insurance salesman than a bank robber but at 58 years old, Stephen Reid, one of Canada's most notorious bank robbers, still has some changes to make before the National Parole Board is convinced he can resist the lure of hard drugs and fast crimes.
Reid was once featured on the FBI's most-wanted list, but on Tuesday, he was neatly-dressed and grey-haired as he appeared before a parole board panel.
He's almost 10 years into an 18-year sentence for a 1999 bank robbery and shootout with police in Victoria, but he told the panel his days as a career criminal are over and he needs to spend more time at his family home in suburban Victoria, as opposed to the halfway house where he spends most nights.
The parole board rejected the request, saying Reid, the bank-robber-turned-author, must build a stronger support system around him that will keep him straight before he is allowed more freedoms.
The board did, however, grant Reid permission to visit the Queen Charlotte Islands on B.C.'s north coast in August for two weeks to explore an opportunity to operate a bed and breakfast there with his family.
Reid told the panel members he committed the robbery to feed his heroin and cocaine addiction and pay off drug debts.
"This is the first time in my life I've been eight years clean," Reid told the hearing, which was conducted in a circle to give the process a less rigid atmosphere and reflect the journeys Reid has made into aboriginal teachings and spirituality.
Reid was on the FBI's most wanted list in the 1970s as a leading member of the so-called Stopwatch Gang, a trio of Canadian criminals known for their precision 90-second bank robberies.
The gang hit banks across the United States and was responsible for a $750,000 gold robbery in Ottawa.
The FBI arrested Reid in Arizona in 1980. He was later returned to Canada to serve his sentence for the Ottawa robbery.
Released on parole in 1987, Reid landed back behind bars with an 18-year sentence for the 1999 Victoria bank robbery.
Reid, wearing a police uniform, and an accomplice walked into a Victoria bank where Reid pointed a loaded shotgun at employees and customers. The pair fled with $97,000, but with police in pursuit.
Reid used a .44 Magnum handgun to fire several shots at police, including shots at a pursuing officer on a motorcycle, and he fired at an innocent woman bystander, knocking a paint tray from her hand, in an attempt to create a diversion.
Reid and Allan McCallum were arrested after a standoff at a nearby apartment.
Reid was granted day-parole last January, but the conditions require him to spend five nights a week at the halfway house.
The circle included two members of the parole board, an aboriginal elder, Reid's stepdaughter, his parole officer and a spokeswoman for his halfway house.
Reid's wife, poet, Susan Musgrave, was teaching in Vancouver and did not attend the hearing and neither did his youngest daughter.
"I've been able to turn things over," said Reid. "I'm not afraid to share things today. I reach out for help. I reach out for all the help I can get. I'm 58 years old."
Reid was asked several pointed questions about his criminal past by parole board members Ben Anderson and Terry Little.
Anderson referred to Reid's past reputation as a "manipulative con."
"What has changed in your behaviour?" he said. "When are we going to see the real Stephen Reid?"
Reid said he confronts his negative emotions immediately and his family and friends will no longer tolerate any moves toward his past behaviour.
"Why did you chose to be a bank robber with a loaded gun?" said Little.
Reid said he wasn't just a bank robber. His life of crime started at 13 years old, and it included drug dealing, theft and robbery.
"The criminal lifestyle, I just bought into it," he said.
Reid's semi-autobiographical novel, Jackrabbit Parole, netted the Massey, Ont., native acclaim in Canada's literary community.
Reid said he is currently writing another autobiographical work, but it is much more reflective in tone that delves deeply into his consciousness as opposed to the fast-paced themes of his previous works.
"I don't think I can write in an exploitive way," he said. "It's a much more meditative book."
VICTORIA - He looks more like an insurance salesman than a bank robber but at 58 years old, Stephen Reid, one of Canada's most notorious bank robbers, still has some changes to make before the National Parole Board is convinced he can resist the lure of hard drugs and fast crimes.
Reid was once featured on the FBI's most-wanted list, but on Tuesday, he was neatly-dressed and grey-haired as he appeared before a parole board panel.
He's almost 10 years into an 18-year sentence for a 1999 bank robbery and shootout with police in Victoria, but he told the panel his days as a career criminal are over and he needs to spend more time at his family home in suburban Victoria, as opposed to the halfway house where he spends most nights.
The parole board rejected the request, saying Reid, the bank-robber-turned-author, must build a stronger support system around him that will keep him straight before he is allowed more freedoms.
The board did, however, grant Reid permission to visit the Queen Charlotte Islands on B.C.'s north coast in August for two weeks to explore an opportunity to operate a bed and breakfast there with his family.
Reid told the panel members he committed the robbery to feed his heroin and cocaine addiction and pay off drug debts.
"This is the first time in my life I've been eight years clean," Reid told the hearing, which was conducted in a circle to give the process a less rigid atmosphere and reflect the journeys Reid has made into aboriginal teachings and spirituality.
Reid was on the FBI's most wanted list in the 1970s as a leading member of the so-called Stopwatch Gang, a trio of Canadian criminals known for their precision 90-second bank robberies.
The gang hit banks across the United States and was responsible for a $750,000 gold robbery in Ottawa.
The FBI arrested Reid in Arizona in 1980. He was later returned to Canada to serve his sentence for the Ottawa robbery.
Released on parole in 1987, Reid landed back behind bars with an 18-year sentence for the 1999 Victoria bank robbery.
Reid, wearing a police uniform, and an accomplice walked into a Victoria bank where Reid pointed a loaded shotgun at employees and customers. The pair fled with $97,000, but with police in pursuit.
Reid used a .44 Magnum handgun to fire several shots at police, including shots at a pursuing officer on a motorcycle, and he fired at an innocent woman bystander, knocking a paint tray from her hand, in an attempt to create a diversion.
Reid and Allan McCallum were arrested after a standoff at a nearby apartment.
Reid was granted day-parole last January, but the conditions require him to spend five nights a week at the halfway house.
The circle included two members of the parole board, an aboriginal elder, Reid's stepdaughter, his parole officer and a spokeswoman for his halfway house.
Reid's wife, poet, Susan Musgrave, was teaching in Vancouver and did not attend the hearing and neither did his youngest daughter.
"I've been able to turn things over," said Reid. "I'm not afraid to share things today. I reach out for help. I reach out for all the help I can get. I'm 58 years old."
Reid was asked several pointed questions about his criminal past by parole board members Ben Anderson and Terry Little.
Anderson referred to Reid's past reputation as a "manipulative con."
"What has changed in your behaviour?" he said. "When are we going to see the real Stephen Reid?"
Reid said he confronts his negative emotions immediately and his family and friends will no longer tolerate any moves toward his past behaviour.
"Why did you chose to be a bank robber with a loaded gun?" said Little.
Reid said he wasn't just a bank robber. His life of crime started at 13 years old, and it included drug dealing, theft and robbery.
"The criminal lifestyle, I just bought into it," he said.
Reid's semi-autobiographical novel, Jackrabbit Parole, netted the Massey, Ont., native acclaim in Canada's literary community.
Reid said he is currently writing another autobiographical work, but it is much more reflective in tone that delves deeply into his consciousness as opposed to the fast-paced themes of his previous works.
"I don't think I can write in an exploitive way," he said. "It's a much more meditative book."
Submitted on July 9, 2008 in By David.
