A man responsible for the tragic deaths of three generations of a British Columbia family during a camping expedition in the 1980s has been denied parole once again. David Ennis fatally shot George and Edith Bentley, their daughter Jackie Johnson, son-in-law Bob, and grandchildren Janet, 13, and Karen, 11, all hailing from Kelowna, B.C., while they were camping at Wells Gray Park near Clearwater in 1982.
The Parole Board of Canada has ruled that Ennis continues to pose a significant risk of committing violent or sexual offenses if released, with the potential for unmanageable harm. Ennis was observed surveilling his victims at their campsite before carrying out the gruesome killings of the four adults. He then kept the two young children alive for several days, subjecting the older girl to sexual assault.
Following these heinous acts, Ennis proceeded to shoot the girls and set fire to the vehicle where he left the bodies, eventually discovered by a berry picker. Formerly known as David Shearing, Ennis was handed a life sentence with no possibility of parole for 25 years for these crimes.
The parole board emphasized that the primary reason for denying Ennis’s parole was his calculated and cruel actions in ending the lives of six individuals to target a young female victim, driven by his depraved sexual desires. This recent denial adds to Ennis’s previous rejections for day and full parole in 2008, 2012, and 2021.