A man serving life in prison for abducting, sexually assaulting and killing a Surrey 10-year-old 26 years ago has been granted a 60-day unescorted temporary absence (UTA) from prison, to participate in a cooking program at a community residential facility.<\/p>\n
According to a Sept. 2 Parole Board of Canada decision, Shane Robert Ertmoed \u2013 convicted of first-degree murder in connection with the Oct. 1, 2000 death of Heather Thomas \u2013 applied for the UTA \u201cfor personal development for rehabilitative purposes.\u201d <\/p>\n
Following a hearing, the board concluded he \u201cwill not pose an undue risk\u201d of reoffending; a conclusion the case management team did not agree with.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir view is that your risk cannot be managed safely on the proposed UTA,\u201d the 11-page decision notes.<\/p>\n
The team pointed out that employment issues \u201cwere not a contributing factor in your offending and cooking skills do not align with your long-term goal to work as a plumber.\u201d<\/p>\n
The application was granted with multiple special conditions \u201cconsidered reasonable and necessary to protect society and the victims\u201d imposed, including that Ertmoed:<\/p>\n
\u2022 have no direct or indirect contact with the victim\u2019s friends and family members; <\/p>\n
\u2022 not visit more than 30 B.C. municipalities, including across Greater Vancouver, the Lower Mainland, Fraser Valley, the Sunshine Coast, and the Okanagan, as well as the provinces of Alberta, Quebec, New Brunswick and Ontario;<\/p>\n
\u2022 not purchase, acquire, possess or access pornography or sexually explicit material;<\/p>\n
\u2022 not be in the presence of females younger than 18 unless accompanied by a previously approved responsible adult who is aware of his criminal history;<\/p>\n
\u2022 immediately report all relationships and friendships with females to his parole supervisor; and,<\/p>\n
\u2022 not own, use or possess any device capable of accessing the Internet without prior written approval.<\/p>\n
Heather \u2013 remembered in Facebook comments as \u201ca beautiful kind soul\u201d \u2013 was playing outside of her father\u2019s townhouse complex in Cloverdale when Ertmoed convinced her to go inside his apartment.<\/p>\n
Her body was found three weeks later in Alouette Lake.<\/p>\n
Upon arrest, Ertmoed confessed and provided a detailed description of the girl\u2019s murder. He recanted, then later appealed his 2002 conviction and sentence. He abandoned his sentence appeal in 2002, and his conviction appeal was dismissed in 2006.<\/p>\n
Ertmoed applied for escorted temporary absences in 2021 \u2013 and completed many \u201cwithout concern,\u201d the decision notes \u2013 and in January 2025, was denied day parole. Following that hearing, Heather\u2019s mom Jody Aspin said she finally learned why Ertmoed chose to abduct and kill her young daughter: \u201cbecause that was his type.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe reminded him of someone from his early years that he was attracted to and wanted to have a relationship with,\u201d Aspin said, recalling information Parole Board of Canada officials gleaned from Ertmoed during the hearing.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt answers a question I\u2019ve wanted to know since Day 1.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ertmoed also finally admitted aloud that he\u2019d killed Heather, Aspin added.<\/p>\n
At the latest hearing, Heather\u2019s mother and a childhood friend stated that they did not support Ertmoed having the UTA opportunity, expressing their belief that he \u201cshould remain in prison until you die,\u201d the decision notes.<\/p>\n
In applying for the UTA, Ertmoed submitted a release plan, a self-management plan and a list of secondary destinations he hoped to access, along with a list of \u201cconstructive activities\u201d he\u2019d use to fill his spare time.<\/p>\n
He also provided a letter from his clinical counsellor that noted he has \u201cmeaningfully engaged\u201d in his work with her; shown improvement in his communication skills, insight and personal accountability; and is \u201ccommitted to personal growth and positive change.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ertmoed\u2019s most recent psychological risk assessment, completed in June 2024, indicated his risk for future sexual reoffending was \u201caverage\u201d relative to other sexual offenders, with risk issues including \u201ca deviant pattern of arousal to young females, using masturbation to inappropriate themes to cope with stress and loneliness, emotional identification with children, social isolation, poor coping, high levels of stress, and difficulties managing strong emotions.\u201d<\/p>\n
It also noted that if he were to sexually reoffend, the victim \u201cwould be a pre-pubescent or pubescent female.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSerious harm could result if a victim were non-compliant,\u201d the decision cites from the report.<\/p>\n
A psychiatric assessment completed in September 2025 suggested arousal-reducing medication to reduce his risk for sexual reoffending. He began taking the medication in November of last year and now reports it has helped \u201creplace unhealthy sexual thoughts with healthy ones.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou told the Board that you are now prepared to do whatever you need to do to address this primary risk issue,\u201d the decision states.<\/p>\n
The board noted Ertmoed was \u201cmuch more open\u201d about his risk-related issues and discussing how to better-manage his troublesome thoughts. He told the board he last applied management strategies the night before the hearing, after becoming \u201cuncomfortable with (his) thoughts\u201d when a 14-year-old female contortionist was featured\u201d on a television show. <\/p>\n
Ertmoed was eligible to apply for full parole in November 2025. His UTA privileges do not extend to overnight absences; he must return to the community residential facility nightly, and is to be supervised \u201c24\/7.\u201d<\/p>\n
Information at canada.ca promises he will remain under a watchful eye indefinitely.<\/p>\n
\u201cLifers will never again enjoy total freedom,\u201d it states, explaining that those who are granted parole remain under conditions and supervision for life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A man serving life in prison for abducting, sexually assaulting and killing a Surrey 10-year-old 26 years ago…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":908564,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194299],"tags":[903,49,48,163792,87674],"class_list":["post-908563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-surrey","tag-british-columbia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-lower-mainland","tag-surrey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/908563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=908563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/908563\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/908564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=908563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=908563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=908563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}