Thirty years after one of B.C.’s most notorious mass murders, the families of the victims are coming together in an effort to keep the killer behind bars.
David Shearing, who has changed his last name to Ennis, stalked and murdered six members of the Johnson and Bentley families while they were camping in Wells Gray Park in 1982.
Shearing, who was 23 at the time, watched the family, and acting on sexual fantasies, fatally shot the four adults and kidnapped the two young girls. He sexually assaulted the girls for days before shooting them in the head.
All six bodies were stuffed in the Johnsons' car, rolled down a hill and torched.
The scene was discovered by a mushroom picker Sept. 13, 1982.
One of 13,000 tips led the police to Shearing, who had a record of assault, drinking and driving, drug possession and possession of stolen property.
Shearing pleaded guilty to six counts of murder on April 16, 1984 and was sentenced to six concurrent life terms with no possibility of parole for 25 years.
Those 25 years came up in 2008, and Ennis unsuccessfully applied for parole. In 2010 he didn’t apply, but is able to every two years.
Decades later, family members are still haunted by the bloody murders that stole three generations of their relatives.
“It was so heinous,” said family member Larry Boden. “It removed three generations from the planet – unbelievable.”
The family is hoping the public will encourage the parole board to keep Ennis locked up.
“We don’t want him out, he will re-offend,” Boden said. “He’s a monster and the scab doesn’t heal.”
Ennis, who married a support worker while in prison, will face the parole board on Sept. 18. The family of the victims will be there to read impact statements and speak for their lost relatives.
With files from the Canadian Press and CTV British Columbia’s Julia Foy
