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| Norman Douglas |
As I was chatting with the people who had lined up, I glanced at the next two women in line and was stunned — it hit me right away who they were. I had not seen Carmela or Tiziana in 35 years. The photo accompanying this column, taken at the Scripture Gift and Book Shop, says it all.
Suddenly I was taken back to October 1987, when I was the Crown attorney in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., and had been prosecuting for 14 years.
I received a call from the Sault Police that a 14-year-old student at Korah Collegiate had been brutally knifed to death in a washroom and that a 19-year-old former student had just been pulled from the St. Marys River and charged with first-degree murder. Carmela was 17 years old and Tiziana was 11 when their sister, Patrizia, was murdered.
I met them, their parents and their brother as I was preparing for the jury trial of Russell Colwell scheduled for January 1988.
Of the dozens of murder cases I have prosecuted, this was the only one in which I became friends with, and then
From left, Tiziana Palumbo, the author, Carmela Roznik: Photo courtesy of Norman Douglas
At the time, my wife, Sue, and I had three daughters as well — aged 11, 9 and 4. I spent many hours in their home as an honoured guest at their dinner table, and my daughters played together with Tiziana over that 1988 summer.
I wrote about the trial and conviction of Colwell in my book You Be The Judge.
The community was outraged and crowds lined up to get a seat. If I had not grown up in that friendly, neighbourly city, I might have mistaken them for a lynch mob.
But their concern was not for the accused. They kept their anger in check in a show of support for the Mastroiannis and a respect for the court. They represented the sadness for what had happened to all of us. And I’m sure some were praying for the Colwell family as well.
Colwell was ably represented by one of the best defence lawyers in Ontario: Roy Youngson. He had a fair trial by a well-respected Superior Court judge and a jury of his peers.
But now I need to address the sentence he received.
The longest sentence available in Canada — I deliberately do not use the adjective “harshest” — is life imprisonment. It rarely means “life” (unless the convicted person dies in prison) and “imprisonment” often involves an apartment in a minimum-security facility with liberal day or weekend temporary passes.
The Correctional Service of Canada and the Parole Board of Canada operate on the presumption that gradual reintegration of the offender into society as a law-abiding citizen best meets the ultimate goal of protecting society.
Every murderer in Canada is eligible for full parole: in the case of second-degree murder, after serving 10 years in custody and in first-degree murder, after serving 25 years (although there is a mechanism to apply for parole after serving 15 years).
I have prosecuted two people who were sentenced to life imprisonment, been paroled and committed a second murder. Also in 1987, I had publicly debated defence lawyer Eddie Greenspan on capital punishment at the Marconi Hall in Sault Ste. Marie.
I think I would have had a stronger argument if the debate had taken place after Patrizia’s brutal murder.
I have never read or heard a more eloquent, heart-wrenching victim impact statement than the one Carmela presented at Colwell’s latest hearing before the parole board on March 28. Michael Friscolanti’s excellent article in Soo Today captured the emotion of that hearing and the lifelong ordeal (sentence) of the Mastroianni family. His story also triggered this column.
Their plight is one of the reasons I believe in capital punishment, not for all but for the worst cases of murder — the sex slayer, the contract killer, the serial killer, the terrorist hostage killer.
I realize that this is a dead(!) issue in Canada, but maybe it’s time we considered the option of “life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.”
Consider Colwell’s long journey through the criminal justice system.
1) Oct 14, 1987: He stalks, murders and masturbates on a 14-year-old girl in a school washroom.
2) January 1988: He pleads not guilty to first-degree murder and attempts to mitigate his crime due to a mental health issue. He is convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment with no parole eligibility until he has served 25 years in prison.
3) During the 1990s, he is placed in segregation for repeatedly exposing himself to female staff.
4) 2010: He loses his cleaning job at a medium-security institution for locking himself in a women’s washroom.
5) 2012: A prison report expresses concern about his preoccupations related to sexual offending.
6) 2014: He applies for day parole and is denied because of the ongoing risk he poses to society.
7) 2021: He applies for full parole and is denied, still considered a danger to society.
8) 2023: He is transferred to a minimum-security institution.
9) November 2023: He applies for temporary escorted absence from prison.
10) March 28, 2024: The parole board denies his request for a temporary absence.
11) May 28, 2024: He appeals the denial; decision still pending.
Now consider the Mastroianni family’s journey, which included travelling to Kingston to appear before the parole board, pleading to keep their sister’s killer locked up.
Carmela refers to it as their life sentence.
No family should have to endure what the Mastroiannis have been through. They have been living with the nightmare, not only of the killing but of the possibility that Colwell may be released someday. Why? Because our system of justice puts its spotlight on the plight of the convicted killer. It ignores the plight of the victims who deserve the small comfort that they will never have to run into the man in the mall who has tortured them all their lives.
The answer to this injustice? Move the spotlight.
Norman Douglas is a retired criminal court judge with 27.5 years of experience on the bench. His book, You Be the Judge, was published in December 2023.
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