Convicted Milton killer wanted for parole breach

Police are searching for a convicted murderer who breached his parole.

Douglas Spiers - formerly known as Douglas Stokes - is serving a life sentence after being convicted of second-degree murder for the 2001 beating and stabbing death of Murray Parrott, 55, of Milton. He served 12 years before being eligible for parole in 2013.

Spiers is known to frequent Hamilton, Welland, Dunnville, St. Catharines and Toronto. He also has ties to Vancouver.

He is described as a Caucasian man, 40, five-foot-10 and 163 pounds, with balding, brown hair and hazel eyes. He typically has facial hair and wears glasses, and has a tattoo of a cross on his upper right arm.

The provincial repeat offender parole enforcement (ROPE) squad is asking the public for help finding Spiers after he breached his full parole. He is wanted on a Canada-wide warrant.

In 2004 Spiers, then called Douglas Stokes, pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of Parrott. Court heart that Parrott encountered a then 19-year-old Stokes while walking home from his favourite Main Street bar in Milton early on Aug. 31, 2001. Parrot, a carpenter, was stabbed in the throat with his own knife and beaten.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Spiers is asked to call the provincial ROPE squad at 1-866-870-7673 or call 911. To remain anonymous contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

Nicole O'Reilly is a crime and justice reporter at The Spectator. noreilly@thespec.com