Escapee Evjen too dangerous to release

The National Parole Board has ordered serial bank robber Shawn Evjen (inset) detained in prison until the very last day of his prison sentence, June, 15, 2010, because he's a dangerous crook who is a "very high" risk to commit new, violent crimes (full document after the jump). It's anyone guess if he'll be in prison on that day. Evjen escaped from medium-security Bowden Institution in Alberta on Sept. 14. He was caught in Edmonton on Sept. 30 during a routine traffic stop near that city's big shopping mall. Two days later, the parole board reviewed his case and issued the detention order.
The timing is odd, but it may be that the board had this review scheduled months before Evjen scaled two fences at Bowden and scampered off. Evjen had already told the board he wasn't going to bother appearing for a hearing, so they completed a paper review of his case, a now-burgeoning file of foulups on release, escapes, and violence behind bars. Detention hearings are fairly rare (just 266 held in 2007-08). The hearings are reserved for the most dangerous convicts. The National Parole Board holds a detention hearing if Corrections Canada, which manages the cases of imprisoned criminals, recommends detention. This latest decision in Evjen's case has some interesting revelations, including the disclosure that Evjen is trying to cut a deal with prosecutors for outstanding charges from July 2009, when he was on early release from prison and robbed another bank:

You were disguised and in possession of a loaded sawed off shotgun. The offence occurred in the mid afternoon and some 15 people were in the bank. Two of those persons, one [an] on duty plain clothes officer and the other a retired police officer, worked to disarm and apprehend you, at gunpoint. You are facing further charges. Documents indicate you are not denying you committed the robbery, have already appeared in court on two occasions and are 'negotiating' with the Crown regarding what you are prepared to plead to.

The board makes only brief mention of Evjen's September escape:

Your most recent offences, committed while under supervision, and now the recent escape from a medium security institution, indicate you are not interested in making any changes to your criminal mindset and remain prepared to take significant risks.

The document doesn't address the fact that Evjen will earn more time for his escape.

Here's the complete decision by the National Parole Board to detain Evjen until the end of his sentence:



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