Elaine Rose Cece, 41, admitted to fatally stabbing undercover cop Bill Hancox on Aug. 4, 1998. She was convicted in 1999 of second-degree murder. (QMI Agency files)
TORONTO - Canada’s public safety minister is vowing to shut the “back door” that allowed convicted cop killer Rose Cece to bypass the parole board and leave a British Columbia prison this week after serving barely 14 years of her life sentence.
The 54-year-old, who stabbed Toronto police Const. Billy Hancox to death in 1998, was released to a halfway house Wednesday by the warden at Fraser Valley Institution for Women, a stunning decision that was brought to light in the Toronto Sun.
“While I can’t comment on specific cases, individuals deemed ineligible for parole should not be given conditional release that is tantamount to release through a back door,” Toews said Thursday. “I have asked (Correctional Service of Canada) Commissioner Don Head for options to ensure that decisions of the Parole Board of Canada are given full effect, both in letter and in spirit.”
