The man who killed three generations of a family in 1982 has applied for parole.
David Ennis, who was known as David Shearing at the time of the killings, had his application denied by the National Parole Board in 2008. The board concluded he had limited insight into the murders and, although he'd accepted responsibility for the deaths, he minimized the actual actions.
The board also felt he posed a risk to the public because his only plan upon release was to live with his wife somewhere in Alberta.
Ennis did not apply when he was next eligible for parole in 2010.
In August 1982, three generations of the Johnson and Bentley families - George and Edith Bentley of Port Coquitlam; their daughter Jackie Johnson and her husband, Bob, of Kelowna; and their two daughters, 13-year-old Janet and 11-year-old Karen - were camping in Wells Gray Provincial Park. Ennis watched them for at least two days before he went to the campsite and shot the four adults so that he could gain access to the two young girls.
Over the next few days, Ennis held the girls hostage and sexually assaulted Janet, although he denied assaulting Karen.
Eventually, he killed the girls, loaded all the bodies into one of the family's vehicles and torched it in a secluded area of the park.
Their remains were discovered on Sept. 13, 1982. It was another 14 months before investigators tracked down Ennis.
In 1984, Ennis pleaded guilty to six counts of second-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.
His hearing in September will be for day and full parole.
