Convicted killer Brian Doyle granted day parole for 3 months
A convicted killer who allowed his innocent best friend to go to prison in his stead has been granted day parole for up to three months.
Brian Doyle, currently behind bars in British Columbia, wept openly as he apologized for the "pain and suffering" he caused by killing a St. John's woman in 1991, then allowing her son to go to prison for his crime.
"I just want everybody to know … to see I'm not the man I was back then, and that I just want to be a better person," he said by video conference Tuesday, openly sobbing as he spoke.
Doyle, convicted of second-degree murder for the slaying of Catherine Carroll, was sentenced to 18 years without parole in 2002.
Carroll's son, Greg Parsons, was convicted of the crime, and spent four years in prison for it before being exonerated in 1998.
During his first foray into the community last year, Doyle broke his conditions by failing to disclose a relationship to his parole officer. His day parole was revoked in April 2021 after a year outside prison.
'A loner within a crowd'
On Tuesday, he told the parole board that at the time of the murder he relied heavily on drugs and alcohol to dampen conflicting feelings about his homosexuality and past sexual abuse.
"I was a loner within a crowd. I had lots of friends and family … but a lot of times in my mind I would self-isolate … I was fighting with my sexuality and trying to deal with it, and seeing a lot of mixed emotions from society," he said.
"I used a lot of drugs and alcohol and my judgments were really clouded, the things I said and did."
He also said sexual rejection from the victim, when he broke into her house to proposition her after a party, sparked a murderous rage that led to Carroll's death. After he killed her, he said, he was paralyzed by fear.
"There was blood on me, there was blood everywhere," Doyle said, his voice high-pitched and strained. "I was so scared. I panicked, I had no idea what I was doing."
The board challenged his account, asking why a police report from an undercover investigation said Doyle had bragged about his ability to get away with murder and appeared proud of his crime.
Doyle said he was simply posturing because the undercover officers were pretending to be part of a criminal organization.
The board also pressed Doyle about his secrecy during his last parole, noting he seemed to have fallen back into the same crime cycle that led to his imprisonment in the first place by thumbing his nose at his release conditions and lying.
His parole officer said Doyle was now well positioned to carry out his rehabilitation in the community and had taken a step forward by disclosing his internal struggles with his sexuality and had worked on those issues while back behind bars.
The operator of the halfway house Doyle will be released to said Doyle had been respectful to staff during his last residency and exceeded expectations in terms of housework. He said Doyle required structure to live in the community, however, and noted the offender had agreed to have spyware installed on his phone, refrain from using social media or dating sites and permit GPS tracking.
Doyle is considered a low to moderate risk to reoffend.
'The truth is finally coming out'
Parsons, who's advocated for years to keep Doyle locked up and on Tuesday called him a "psychopath" and a "predator" who didn't feel remorse for his crimes, told CBC News after the hearing he was pleased Doyle had finally admitted he had a sexual motivation for his mother's slaying.
"I'm just glad that the truth is finally coming out," Parsons said.
"He's saying he had a relationship with my mom. Well if you had a relationship, why'd you break in through the basement, go out to the kitchen to get a knife, and stand over her bed?"
Parsons argued in his victim impact statement that the sexual nature of Doyle's crime was not addressed by the court system.
He heard Doyle tell the board on Tuesday, for the first time, that he had in fact visited Carroll's house to try to have sex with her and get drugs.
Despite Doyle's repeated apologies, Parsons said he can't forgive his former friend.
"He'll always play the victim, so I don't accept [his] apology. It wasn't an apology," Parsons said.
"He was backed into a corner, and he'll do and say whatever he needs to do to get out."
Doyle will return to prison when he's completed a rehabilitation program, and may apply again for parole based on his success in the program, a parole board spokesperson said.
