Fenny Campbell’s family not surprised saying he hasn’t changed

Heather Wright/The Independent

The Parole Board of Canada has cancelled convicted murder Donald Campbell’s unescorted absences from prison after he “mislead staff to get what (he) wanted.”

And children of his victim, Fenny Campbell, are not surprised. They’d told the parole board several times before his release, Donald Campbell had not changed.

The 72 year-old, formerly of Wyoming, killed his wife, Fenny, in January 1998, striking her in the head with a marble pestle and trying to make her death look like a car accident. Campbell, to this day, denies he killed her, even though the jury determined he planned the murder.

Over the years, Campbell has tried to appeal the sentence but was denied multiple times. In 2024, after serving 25 years in federal prison, Campbell applied for Unescorted Temporary Absences called UTAs. A panel turned the request down but Campbell appealed and he was granted the leaves.

The Parole Board of Canada says Campbell went on his first leave in July without incident. But in October, when he went to his assigned community based residential facility, he checked in, put his bags away and rushed off saying he was late for a meeting that his parole officer knew about. Workers at the facility had asked Campbell to stay but he left before talking to them.

Then, when the parole officer called the facility saying they were coming to see Campbell, it became clear Campbell had lied that his parole officer’s knew what he was doing. Both the facility and the parole officer tried to call Campbell, but while the phone would ring, he didn’t answer.

“You continued to deny any wrongdoing, and continued to claim you had permission. You also said you did not see the calls made to you and didn’t know how to work your phone. When you handed
your phone to your PO, they noticed several unanswered calls from the CBRF and themselves,
and that their number was showing as blocked on your phone,” writes the parole board adjudicator in his report.

“Your file states the overall concern is that you took advantage of a busy time at the (facility) and
misled staff regarding who you were seeing in order to be able to leave.”

Campbell returned with $200 in his wallet but its not clear who he met and who provided him with the cash. And he didn’t mention the money when talking with the parole officer, even though the parole officer specifically asked about finances.

Campbell was sent back to prison the next day and now the parole board has cancelled the final leave.

The ruling says Campbell “demonstrated disregard for rules…You mislead staff to get what you wanted, failed to acknowledge doing anything wrong, and continue to misrepresent facts, maintaining you had permission when you did not.”

Campbell’s behaviour, the parole board said, was “reflective of your offence cycle, where you tried to cover up your offending in the face of clear evidence and continue to deny your offence.”

Fenny Campbell’s son, Joel, the oldest of her three children, wasn’t surprised. “In our victim impact statements, in our participation in past parole hearings, in our communications with them, we have expressed multiple times he has not changed,” Joel Campbell tells The Independent. “This is the same person he was…he does look for opportunities to bend and evade the rules and to do what he wants even when he’s told he shouldn’t be doing what he’s doing.

“In my most recent victim impact statement I referred to it as being like a predatory fish pulled out of water,” Joel Campbell added. “They look kind of confined and not really a real harm to anyone while they’re in the net, but if you put your hand in there and give them access, they’re still looking for an opportunity to roam free and do what they want.

“He had his opportunity, but when he found an inch or a couple of inches, he certainly took more than a few inches.”

Donald Campbell can appeal the ruling to end his unescorted temporary absences.

Joel Campbell hopes the Parole Board will hold a in-person hearing for any appeal, saying it is important for the family to be able to talk to those deciding whether Donald Campbell should return to public life, even temporarily.