Drunk driver Marco Muzzo granted day parole five years after killing three children and their grandfather
Convicted drunk driver Marco Muzzo - serving a 10-year sentence for killing a grandfather and three grandchildren - has been granted day parole.
The news was first confirmed Tuesday afternoon by Jennifer Neville-Lake, the mother of Daniel, Harrison and Milagros Neville-Lake - aged nine, five and two - and daughter of Gary Neville, 65.
The four were killed in 2015 in a crash caused by Muzzo.
"My family's killer, drunk driver Marco Michael Muzzo has been granted day parole," Neville-Lake wrote on Facebook. "I know I did my best."
The law firm representing Muzzo confirmed the decision and shared a statement in which Muzzo said he wants to "apologize to the Neville-Lake, Neville and Frias families for the terrible pain I have caused them and their loved ones. I ruined their lives and I take full responsibility for what I have done. I always will."
He continued: "I was careless and irresponsible when I made the choice to drink and drive. There is no way that I can undo the damage that I have caused. I will live with this for the rest of my life."
The Parole Board of Canada did not immediately confirm the decision. Victims and family are typically notified ahead of a public statement.
Muzzo appeared before the Parole Board of Canada remotely on Tuesday. He was asking for a second time for parole, in a hearing that Neville-Lake was able to attend and deliver a victim statement by phone.
Until last week, neither victims nor media were allowed to attend the hearings due to COVID-19 measures. The board later allowed victims to now participate by phone, although media remain shut out.
With no media present - the board offered only to mail a decision to approved "observers," which includes reporters - the role of informing the public of what happens has been thrust onto victims.
"No matter what happened today, Daniel, Harry and Milly don't get to come back home. My dad isn't coming home to my mom," Neville-Lake wrote on Facebook Tuesday. "Nothing changes for me."
On the eve of the hearing, Neville-Lake wrote that she would be posting updates, but may not be up to talking.
"We are the test for Victims across Canada," she said on Twitter. "I will be posting on my (social media) sites, but I can't commit to talk. I just don't know how I will be. I truly appreciate your support and thank you for your understanding. I wish you could be there."
Andrew Murie, CEO of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, also took to Twitter to criticize the board's decision to open up only to victims.
"As much I appreciate the Parole Board now allowing victims to participate in real-time - but forcing upon victims the additional burden of reporting what happened is not right," said Murie. "The is the role of the media."
In an interview Tuesday, Murie said he spent the day checking Twitter for news from the hearing and feeling for the family, particularly Neville-Lake.
"Their family has been devastated, and she's just trying to cope to get through this parole hearing," said Murie who pushed for victims to be included in a virtual way, and then thought of how much of a burden it is for victims to be the only ones to communicate, real time, what was said.
The parole board makes decisions public as they are made, but with no media present, transcripts of what was said could be weeks away. "Not having the media there, that was a big miss and it needs to be added in there," said Murie.
Murie said he was not surprised by the decision to grant Muzzo day parole. What was surprising, he said, was the last decision denying him day parole, largely over his alcohol misuse.
"So, obviously he took that to heart, made some changes, has a new respect for the impact that alcohol may have on someone's life and he's probably got some real restrictive conditions."
Muzzo has been housed at Beaver Creek Institution in Gravenhurst. He pleaded guilty in 2016 to impaired driving causing death in the 2015 crash in Vaughan. He also pleaded guilty to impaired driving causing bodily harm over injuries to the children's grandmother and great-grandmother.
He was denied on his first try in November 2018 after the parole board found he had "sabotaged" his progress in prison by underestimating his issues with alcohol.
"Of concern, you advised the board you felt you would need to consume eight or nine drinks before you would consider yourself impaired in the context of driving," the panel wrote in its decision.
"When pressed on this issue, you altered your response indicating you believe eight or nine drinks would make you 'wasted.' In any event, in our view, it was clear you lack insight into the volume and frequency of your drinking and the risk it poses for you and others."
At his first parole hearing, Muzzo told the board he "firmly" believed he was not an addict. The family of the victims also spoke then, urging the board to keep Muzzo locked up.
Muzzo comes from a wealthy family, estimated to be worth close to $2 billion by Canadian Business Magazine. He has admitted to driving impaired before the crash. He'd also been ticketed several times for speeding.
A person becomes eligible for full parole after serving one-third of their sentence.
Jim Rankin is a Star reporter based in Toronto. Follow him on Twitter: @Jleerankin