The freedom to speed
Speed demon
Herb Grieder, holds a picture of his nephew, Zachary Morrison who died with four others after their car was hit by Daniel Tschetter.
Credits: DARREN MAKOWICHUK/CALGARY SUN/QMI AGENCY
BOWDEN, AB — A cement truck driver who's been behind bars for three years after killing five people on a busy Calgary highway has been granted day parole.
He will be released into a halfway house and is eligible for overnight privileges that will allow him to stay with his family.
The decision was made by a Parole Board of Canada panel at Bowden Institution, about 100 km north of Calgary, Wednesday morning.
His application for full parole was denied.
It's been less than five years since Daniel Tschetter, 55, slammed his speeding cement truck into Chris Gautreau's car that was stopped at a red light.
The Dec. 7, 2007, collision killed Gautreau, his daughters -- Alexia, 9, and Kiarra, 6 -- his girlfriend Melaina Hovdebo, 33, and her 16-month-old son, Zachary Morrison.
At the hearing, details surfaced of a spat with a jailhouse staff member that resulted in Tschetter losing his prison job, Gary Sears of the Parole Board confirmed.
Tschetter also admitted to driving a Bobcat that needed to be moved. He is restricted from operating vehicles.
The decision brought some relief to Zachary's relatives who anticipated the board would approve some sort of parole, whether day or full.
"He has to get out sometime," said Zachary's aunt, Tracey Grieder.
"I think it's a good thing that he has more time to slowly integrate into society -- there's a lot of stress for him coming out and I don't get a sense that he's ready yet."
Zachary's uncle, Herb Grieder, said while he believes Tschetter has made strides to change, he doesn't buy the story he's stuck by all these years.
"As he has stated numerous times, he had a bad day, and he wasn't drinking that day, and he has been going to (Alcoholics Anonymous) meetings, etcetera etcetera," Herb said.
"I still find that hard to believe and understand."
During trial, Tschetter said he may have been glancing at his air gauge when he plowed into Gautreau's car.
Witnesses, however, painted him as a speed demon, passing vehicles on the shoulder of Hwy. 2, tailgating and weaving his way through traffic as he barrelled toward Calgary.
At the crash scene, police found an open vodka bottle that Tschetter admitted he tried to hide.
Tschetter said he was thirsty and took a sip from the bottle, thinking it was water.
He was convicted in May, 2009, on five counts of manslaughter and in October of that year he was sentenced to the equivalent of 5 1/2 years.
michael.wood@sunmedia.ca
Twitter: @SUNMichaelWood
He will be released into a halfway house and is eligible for overnight privileges that will allow him to stay with his family.
The decision was made by a Parole Board of Canada panel at Bowden Institution, about 100 km north of Calgary, Wednesday morning.
His application for full parole was denied.
It's been less than five years since Daniel Tschetter, 55, slammed his speeding cement truck into Chris Gautreau's car that was stopped at a red light.
The Dec. 7, 2007, collision killed Gautreau, his daughters -- Alexia, 9, and Kiarra, 6 -- his girlfriend Melaina Hovdebo, 33, and her 16-month-old son, Zachary Morrison.
At the hearing, details surfaced of a spat with a jailhouse staff member that resulted in Tschetter losing his prison job, Gary Sears of the Parole Board confirmed.
Tschetter also admitted to driving a Bobcat that needed to be moved. He is restricted from operating vehicles.
The decision brought some relief to Zachary's relatives who anticipated the board would approve some sort of parole, whether day or full.
"He has to get out sometime," said Zachary's aunt, Tracey Grieder.
"I think it's a good thing that he has more time to slowly integrate into society -- there's a lot of stress for him coming out and I don't get a sense that he's ready yet."
Zachary's uncle, Herb Grieder, said while he believes Tschetter has made strides to change, he doesn't buy the story he's stuck by all these years.
"As he has stated numerous times, he had a bad day, and he wasn't drinking that day, and he has been going to (Alcoholics Anonymous) meetings, etcetera etcetera," Herb said.
"I still find that hard to believe and understand."
During trial, Tschetter said he may have been glancing at his air gauge when he plowed into Gautreau's car.
Witnesses, however, painted him as a speed demon, passing vehicles on the shoulder of Hwy. 2, tailgating and weaving his way through traffic as he barrelled toward Calgary.
At the crash scene, police found an open vodka bottle that Tschetter admitted he tried to hide.
Tschetter said he was thirsty and took a sip from the bottle, thinking it was water.
He was convicted in May, 2009, on five counts of manslaughter and in October of that year he was sentenced to the equivalent of 5 1/2 years.
michael.wood@sunmedia.ca
Twitter: @SUNMichaelWood
