Nova Scotia woman who killed daughter granted day passes from prison, but not parole
Penny Boudreau is escorted from provincial court after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in the death of her daughter, Karissa Boudreau, in Bridgewater, N.S., on Friday, Jan. 30, 2009. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan
TRURO — A Nova Scotia woman who murdered her 12-year-old daughter in 2008 has been granted an unescorted pass from prison for 60 days.
But the Parole Board of Canada denied Penny Boudreau's request Wednesday for day parole, saying she wasn't ready to live in a community for a more prolonged period with fewer restrictions.
In January 2009, Boudreau pleaded guilty to second-degree murder after admitting she had used a length of twine to strangle Karissa Boudreau on the night of Jan. 27, 2008. Court heard that the woman from Bridgewater, N.S., now in her 50s, wanted the girl out of the way because she was interfering with Boudreau's relationship with a boyfriend.
Boudreau was sentenced to 20 years in prison. But under federal law, she was allowed to apply for day parole or a so-called unescorted temporary absence (UTA) with three years left in her sentence.
Day parole can be granted for up to six months and is less restrictive than a UTA. In both cases, offenders must return at night to a supervised setting like a halfway house, but there is closer supervision and more restrictions for those on a UTA. Those on day parole, for example, can apply to leave unescorted for a weekend, but those on a UTA can't do that.
As the hearing in Truro, N.S., began Wednesday, Karissa's father, Paul Boudreau, read from a statement saying his daughter's death had left a huge void in his life.
'Am I a failure as a father? Should I have seen this coming?' he said. 'This turmoil has lowered my self-worth to a very low point .... Life will never be the same for many of us.'
The hearing, led by a two-member panel from the parole board, heard Boudreau had completed correctional programs and had received treatment from a mental health team while working as an assistant to the chaplain at the Nova Institution for Women in Truro.
'You've made good use of the time,' a panel member said. 'You've led a productive lifestyle.'
As well, they were told Boudreau had been granted escorted day passes for the past seven years and participated in psychological risk assessments that determined she was at a very low risk to re-offend.
But the panel also heard she is considered a high risk for entering into unhealthy, intimate relationships.
Throughout the hearing, Boudreau spoke barely above a whisper. At times, she struggled to answer questions about how she would cope in certain situations. And she lost her composure several times, dabbing her eyes with a tissue as she sobbed.
When asked to reflect on the impact her actions have had on the broader community, she struggled to respond.
'A great deal of consideration went into the impact on the community,' she said, drawing a deep breath. 'I have talked about it with several people .... And I feel like people are going to be hurting .... I don't know if there's anything I could do to mitigate causing more hurt or anger.'
She also mentioned how her unescorted day passes allowed for a gradual reintegration into society.
'It would have been overwhelming to do this too much,' she said. 'It's allowed me to be gradually hopeful that I can do this.'
But when she was asked to rate her overall progress in prison on a scale from 1 to 10, she said she rated herself at 6 or a 7.
'That means there's still work to be done,' a board member told the hearing as it drew to a close. 'The board thinks you're very conscious of the work that needs to be done on relationships, managing emotions and dealing with obstacles that can be highly stressful.'
The board member said Boudreau's limited criminal history was offset by the nature and severity of her crime.
'The impact of your crime cannot be overstated,' he said. 'This impact remains very much alive ... And the board remains very mindful of the protection of society.'
The board members decided they would review Boudreau's case in six months.
They also said her UTA was conditional on her continuing with mental health treatment, avoiding contact with the victim's family and reporting any new relationships with men, and confirming whether they have parental responsibilities for anyone under 16.
When asked if she had any additional information to share, Boudreau sobbed again as she acknowledged that many people in Nova Scotia are still hurting because of her actions.
'I realize that I can't undo it. I just want it known that I don't take this lightly at all.'
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 18, 2025.
The Canadian Press
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CTV News
29 minutes ago
- CTV News
Calgary police warn of fraud calls impersonating officers
Each year, thousands of Canadians become victims of fraud, and Calgary police are warning the public of people impersonating officers and banks. Loading the player instance is taking more time than usual Loading the player instance is taking more time than usual The Calgary Police Service (CPS) is warning the public about financial scams involving people posing as officers. There have been more than 30 reports of Calgarians receiving calls from people impersonating officers this year. Victims have lost more than $43,000 combined. The fraudsters are making the caller ID appear as a Calgary police phone number. Staff Sgt. Peter Duchnij says police will never call or email and ask for financial information or money. 'If the person identifies themselves as a police officer, it's OK to ask them, 'What's their full name? What's their badge number? Where do they work? What is the case number that's associated?' And ask for a call back,' said Duchnij. 'Call the non-emergency line at 403-266-1234 and speak to an operator, just to confirm all that data.' If you're a victim of financial fraud, report it to police or Crime Stoppers. Other forms of fraud can be reported to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. More than 36,000 Canadians were defrauded out of almost $650 million last year, according to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. Each year, thousands of Canadians become victims of fraud, and Calgary police are warning the public of people impersonating officers and banks. Each year, thousands of Canadians become victims of fraud, and Calgary police are warning the public of people impersonating officers and banks. Calgarian Danielle Gaddess was targeted this year, losing $18,000 to someone impersonating her bank. The call display showed the name of her bank, and the fraudsters claimed someone was actively in her account stealing her money. They even instructed her to cut up her card and sent a fake courier to get it. 'It looked like the bank. It talked like the bank. The protocols they were giving me were from the bank. Then they provided me the courier's name, the courier's licence plate, the make and model, everything that I would think that if it was a crook, they wouldn't have provided,' Gaddess said. She's fighting the bank to get her money back. 'I might even be losing my house. They drained me. I have nothing to fall back on,' Gaddess said.
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
Adam Drake found guilty of second-degree murder
Atlantic Watch Adam Drake has been found guilty of the stabbing death of Pat Stay at a Halifax nightclub in 2022.
CTV News
3 hours ago
- CTV News
B.C. man who pushed girlfriend to her death off cliff gets sentence reduced
A man who killed his girlfriend by pushing her off a cliff in Nanaimo, B.C., has had his sentence reduced on appeal. The court heard Kyle Ordway had been in a relationship with Amy Watts for years when he shoved her down an approximately 15-metre rockface to her death in May 2021. Ordway told friends they had been fighting at the time. He later pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to four years behind bars – but appealed the punishment because of how the judge calculated his credit for time served, which went against a joint submission from the Crown and defence. In a decision issued last week, a three-justice panel at the B.C. Court of Appeal found in Ordway's favour. 'The Crown agrees the judge erred as alleged. Respectfully, so do I,' said Chief Justice Leonard Marchand, in the panel's reasons. Recalculated for a federal sentence The Crown and defence submitted that Ordway should serve a four-year sentence, and be credited at a rate of 1.5:1 for the time he'd already spent in custody. The court heard Ordway, who was 40 years old at sentencing, had a difficult childhood, and began using drugs at an early age. While the judge said she accepted the joint submission, she also credited Ordway at a reduced rate of 1.435:1. Doing so meant he would end up with two years plus a day remaining – long enough for a federal sentence. The judge considered the fact that Ordway and Watts were intimate partners, and that the killer had not sought help after pushing her off the cliff, as aggravating factors. 'She concluded a two-year sentence in a federal institution would meet the public interest,' Marchand said. 'No basis' to stray from joint submission While judges are not bound by joint submissions, the Court of Appeal noted there is a 'stringent' test for rejecting them – and found Ordway's judge failed to meet that bar in her reasons. 'On a proper application of the public interest test, there was no basis to reduce the jointly proposed credit for Mr. Ordway's pre-sentence custody,' Marchand said. 'Simply put, the proposed credit for pre-sentence custody would not have brought the administration of justice into disrepute.' The panel pointed out the proposed credit and granted credit were 'very close,' at 729 days versus 762 days. The Court of Appeal decreased Ordway's sentence in accordance with the joint submission. Since it began on Oct. 28, 2024, the updated sentence will end in September 2026.
