A Kelowna man who fatally stabbed his fiancée 27 times back in 2014 is back behind bars, after he nearly killed another person while out of custody on statutory release.
Ryan Quigley, now 44, was arrested in April 2014, three days after his fiancée Aimee Parkes was found stabbed to death in the couple's home at the former Hiawatha Mobile Home Park. She was 35 years old.
He pleaded guilty to manslaughter in October 2016 and was handed a 12-year sentence. With credit for time served, he was left with nine years and five months left to serve.
Quigley was released from custody on statutory release for the second time this past July, to a halfway house somewhere in B.C.'s central interior, according to Parole Board documents.
Almost all offenders in Canada are automatically released from custody after serving two-thirds of their sentence, and they'll generally be under some supervision conditions for the remainder of their sentence.
Less than a month after he began residing at the halfway house, Quigley admitted to his Case Management Team on Aug. 8 that he had met up with a woman at a beach, which he says was coincidental. But as he had previously requested to meet up with the woman, and was not given permission, his parole officer does not believe their meeting was accidental.
During the meet-up with the woman, Quigley intervened in an altercation she had with another man.
“You held the male's head under water and did not stop until the female called your name,” Parole Board documents state.
“Later while at the female's house, you stated the male returned, armed with a wrench, threatening to kill you and the female. The female gave you a knife and you state you stood with the knife, which deterred the male from attacking you.
Staff at the halfway house also suspected Quigley was crushing and snorting his ADHD medication at the home, and he was taken back into custody on Aug. 8.
Later, Quigley admitted that he “would have unintentionally drowned the male if the female had not called out your name, as you were focused on keeping the male away from the female and was unaware how long you were holding the male's head under the water,” according to the Parole Board documents.
In that post-suspension interview, Quigley said he had met the woman in question on a bus after he'd been released from custody and was headed to the halfway house. He maintains his subsequent meeting with her at the beach was coincidental.
He added that during his altercation with the other man at the beach, the woman he was with had struck the man in the head with a rock.
“Your presentation reflected a sense of pride in your actions, and you continued to defend all of your actions as necessary,” the Parole Board said. “You compared your actions to that of a police officer who has to take any necessary actions to protect another person.”
Ultimately, the Parole Board ruled Quigley's risk to reoffend is too great if he's released from custody, and his statutory release was revoked.
When a statutory release is revoked, an offender will remain in custody until they serve two-thirds of the remainder of their sentence. With Quigley's sentence set to expire in March 2026, he's not expected to be eligible for statutory release again until June 2025.
August's incident was the second time Quigley's statutory release has been suspended.
He was first released in early 2023, and while the Correctional Service of Canada recommended he be required to live in a halfway house for at least six months, the Parole Board permitted him to live with his family in the Joe Rich area.
But in May, his statutory release was suspended after Quigley's father informed the Parole Board that “things were not going well.” His father had reported they no longer felt safe after Quigley had challenged his father to a fight.
The RCMP Emergency Response Team descended on the Joe Rich area on May 3 and arrested Quigley without incident.
In July, the Parole Board once again released Quigley, this time to the central Interior halfway house for a six-month period. The August 2023 incident occurred about a month after he began his residency at the halfway house.
Quigley's killing of his fiancée in 2014 came after Parkes had tried to end their relationship, and told Quigley to leave their home. Quigley was dealing with addiction issues at the time, and was under the influence of cocaine and cannabis when he committed the killing.
In a victim impact statement, Parkes' mother said her daughter had tried to help Quigley through his addiction issues, only to have him kill her when she finally had enough.
During trial, the court heard that Parkes was still alive after Quigley stabbed her 27 times, but he left the scene in her vehicle and spent the next three days selling Parkes' possessions and using the money to purchase and consume drugs. He was then found by police sleeping the back of her vehicle.
Quigley was initially charged with second-degree murder. On the first day of trial, he tried to plead guilty to manslaughter, admitting to the killing but citing factors of intent, provocation and intoxication as to why a murder conviction was not justified.
The Crown rejected Quigley's manslaughter plea, but after several weeks of trial, Crown accepted the manslaughter plea. On Oct. 21, 2016, Justice Alison Beames acceded to the Crown and defence's joint sentencing submission of 12 years.
