The Parole Board of Canada has sent Brayden Bushby back to jail, revoking the release granted to the man convicted of killing an Indigenous woman by throwing a trailer hitch at her from a moving vehicle in Thunder Bay, Ont.
Bushby, now 25, was sentenced in 2021 to eight years in prison for the 2017 manslaughter of 34-year-old Barbara Kentner and granted day parole last year, which allowed him to live at his mother's home.
The parole board says it found Bushby had violated several terms of his day release, including a condition not to consume alcohol, noting that he failed a breathalyzer test during a traffic stop.
The board's report also says Bushby failed to remain at the scene of a collision in which he reversed a car into another vehicle, and that he was a suspect in another investigation of a stolen vehicle.
It adds that he got a new tattoo of a Confederate flag, which the board says "is widely considered to be associated with racist ideologies," but Bushby questioned its relevance to his case and claimed he didn't know what the tattoo artist was doing until the ink was complete.
The board says that in order for day parole to be restored, Bushby must meet all conditions initially applied to his release – including avoiding alcohol while receiving treatment for substance abuse – but also added new conditions, including a duty to report all intimate relationships and friendships with women and zero contact with individuals involved in criminal activity or substance abuse.
Bushby threw a trailer hitch at Kentner after drinking heavily with friends and was found to have shouted "I got one" or "I hit one" after she was struck in the abdomen, court had heard.
Kentner died in hospital several months after the attack that drew widespread condemnation and made national headlines.
Bushby was initially charged with first-degree murder, and the decision to downgrade the charge to manslaughter stirred controversy.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 1, 2024.
Sheila Reid, The Canadian Press
