A Prince George antiques dealer and former RCMP officer convicted in 1983 of killing his wife by throwing her off the 17th floor balcony of their Toronto apartment will spend at least the next year in jail for a parole violation.
Patrick Michael Kelly, who owns Antiques on 6th, had his parole revoked at a Parole Board of Canada hearing Tuesday and is back in jail to resume serving a life sentence he received for first-degree murder.
Kelly, a four-year Prince George resident, opened his downtown store and restoration business at the corner of Sixth Avenue and George Street in May 2010, after nearly 17 years imprisonment for his wife's death, which he claims was an accident.
Kelly, 62, violated a parole condition when he failed to disclose to his parole officer two of the three coexisting relationships he had with women between May and August 2012. One of those women ended her relationship with Kelly in May, and later filed a complaint with the national (parole) monitoring centre, which led to his arrest on Aug. 5. She was concerned for the safety of other women because he delayed telling her he had been convicted of killing his wife until after he had established an intimate relationship with her.
The woman who was with Kelly at his residence when he was arrested claimed she was involved in an intimate relationship with him but was unaware of his criminal history.
At the time of his wife Jeannette's murder, Kelly had been involved in three extramarital affairs and was seeing another woman. The parole board determined he was repeating a pattern of deceit and relationship dishonesty which, when combined with his drinking problem and his potential for financial stress, elevated his risk to reoffend.
Distraught about the break-up with his girlfriend in May, Kelly started drinking about two bottles of red wine daily, at his work and at home. He admitted to his parole officer he was not sure if he was ever completely sober throughout the day and made poor choices as a result. He also said he lied to his business customers at least twice about having work complete.
Upon his full parole in 2010, Kelly had agreed to a special condition to not use alcohol, and also promised to seek counselling from a psychologist and be fully open and disclosive with his case workers, all of which he failed to do.
Kelly's day parole was suspended in December 2004 after he was accused of fraud. Although he was found not guilty of fraud it was determined he breached a condition when he failed to report all his financial dealings to his parole officer. The board acknowledged Kelly maintained parole condition of reporting his finances, and that in his four years in Prince George several community members have developed a positive view him. But in the report, the board said Kelly has demonstrated a "longstanding capacity to deceive" those around him.
"While working as an undercover officer in the RCMP, you adopted several different personas as part of your work and you also engaged in illegal activities... earning money under the table... while presenting as an RCMP officer. In 2005 your day parole was revoked for reasons directly related to your deceitful behaviour."
Kelly's case management team advised the parole board to cancel suspension of his parole, deeming Kelly a low risk to commit future violent offences, with high reintegration potential. But the board determined Kelly's "deceptive and calculating behaviour" elevated his risk to the community and resulted in the breech of his conditions.
A parole board spokesman told the Canadian Press that Kelly will be allowed to apply for parole again, but will likely have to wait at least a full year before his next hearing.
For the past four months, ever since his arrest, Kelly's antiques business has been overseen by Rebecca Sinclair, a Prince George financial planner and friend of Kelly's, who has agreed to take on the task of returning consigned furniture to the owners or will pay back money Kelly owes to his customers. Sinclair said it has been difficult finding the necessary paperwork to match with consignment items and she's now spending four or five hours each day sorting out Kelly's business dealings.
"He does have records, but they are all in his handwriting and they're not computerized -- It's a real challenge to put furniture and people together again," said Sinclair. "I'm doing this voluntarily as a favour to Patrick and a favour to the community. I'm not willing to leave these people hanging, because these are my neighbours and friends.
"We're taking care of business. It's not like anything is at risk. I've offered to help him get through a tough situation. People just have to be patient."
Sinclair attended Kelly's parole board hearing in Agassiz and was prepared to drive him back to Prince George.
"Now that we know he's not coming home in the near future, we are wrapping up the business in a positive and concise manner," Sinclair said. "We have inventory to sell that Patrick does own and we will be selling that. We'll make sure all the local people he owes money to will get paid."
Sinclair said people should bring pictures of their furniture as proof of ownership as well as their invoices to help her identify the items and determine if they have been sold. The store is open Tuesday-Saturday from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sinclair can contacted at 250-564-4865. The lease on Antiques on 6th expires this week and Sinclair intends to continue operating the business at a new location at 250 Dominion St., beginning on Saturday.
