Convicted B.C. double murderer given full parole

A man convicted in the notorious double murder of two women in Tsawwassen in 1990 when he was a teenager has been granted full parole.

The decision was made following a parole board hearing for Derik Lord on Thursday that was tense at times. Just minutes into questioning from the parole board members, Lord said he was “agitated” and needed a break, which was granted.

Lord has been serving a life sentence for the brutal murders of Sharon Huenemann and Doris Leatherbarrow. He and David Muir were hired by their high school buddy, Darren Heunemann, to murder his mother and grandmother so he could gain a $4-million inheritance.

Lord was 17 at the time and has always maintained his innocence.

“It was such a brutal, heinous crime. I don’t care that he was 17,” said Kim Hill, a relative of the victims.

“We could maybe get past this if there were any expression of remorse, any apology at all. But the fact that he denies it, it just adds so much insult to injury,” she said.

During the hearing, several members of the victims’ family spoke, including Hill.

“Normal people do not go around cold-bloodedly murdering others for financial gain, expressing no remorse and then lying about it forever,” she said.

Lord was asked by the board how it made him feel to hear the victim’s family read statements.

‘”It makes me feel agitated. I’m not happy about it. I’m listening to people bad mouth me,” he said during the sometimes confrontational hearing.

He later asked for a break in the proceedings, which was granted.

Lord has been on day parole for more than four years without incident, but the board noted that he comes off as “combative, arrogant and entitled."

Now in his early 50s, he is working in the lumber industry in northern B.C. and has a wife and son. He said his son is autistic.

He also said during the hearing that he will continue to be involved in his "Aboriginal spirituality."

Lord had the support of his parole officer in seeking full parole.

“I’m not interested in returning to prison at all. So everything I do, the people I interact with … everything is based on that goal of not returning to prison,” Lord told parole board members.

In its decision, the board ruled that Lord did not present an undue risk.

“We’re furious and mortified,” Hill said after the decision was handed down.

“We’re all worried for our safety. We’re worried for the public,” she added. “The parole board failed at their jobs today and it was clear to us they failed."

In a statement, Rich Beketa – another relative of the victims – wrote: “We’re totally disappointed by the board’s decision today. It was as if they knew the outcome before the hearing even started.”

“(The parole board) avoided asking the triggering questions from the previous hearing, focusing on pandering, soft, meaningless queries," he added. "They failed their job.”

Lord is not to have any contact with the victim’s families and can not travel to Vancouver Island or the Lower Mainland.

He must also attend counselling with a mental health professional or elder for one year.