Some Kelowna residents say they want a man convicted of raping two girls and killing their entire family to stay behind bars.
After 26 years in prison for the deaths of the six people in the Johnson family, David Shearing is now eligible for parole -- something that can't be allowed to happen, said Dorene Landen.
"Everybody was just devastated that it happened," she said. "You can't go by without think about it and the two little girls and what happened to them."
Bob Johnson, his wife Jackie, their two children 13-year-old Janet and 11-year-old Karen, and Jackie's parents Edith and George were murdered while they were camping in Wells Grey Park.
Their bodies were found burned beyond recognition.
"I was absolutely dumbfounded," said Ross Gorman, who worked with Bob Johnson at Gorman Brothers Lumber. "It was just beyond our comprehension that such an awful thing could happen."
Landen is organizing a petition pleading for Shearing to be denied parole, and has left petitions at about 30 Kelowna businesses.
People have been eager to sign -- there are already some 5,000 names.
"It just doesn't make sense at all to me," said another employee of Gorman Brothers Lumber. "He should have been sent away with never a chance of parole."
"He's given Bob and his family a life sentence. Like forever. This man should have some sort of a forever," he said.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Kent Molgat
