Douglas Floyd Lambier, convicted in the 2005 death of nine-year-old Brandon Burchell, is in B.C. on a 60-day unescorted temporary absence in Victoria.
The Story
Sixty-three-year-old Douglas Floyd Lambier, who was responsible for the death of nine-year-old Ontario boy Brandon Burchell, is staying in Victoria, B.C., on an unescorted temporary absence (UTA) authorized by the Parole Board of Canada for 60 days.
The Parole Board decision says Lambier is currently at the Salvation Army Victoria Addictions and Rehabilitation Centre at 525 Johnson Street. While on the UTA, he is required to participate in an eight-week “Skills for Recovery” program, and the board did not grant full parole because Lambier acknowledged he is not ready for it.
The UTA conditions prohibit Lambier from being in children’s areas, consuming alcohol or drugs, entering drinking establishments, contacting the victim’s family, or associating or communicating with people he knows or has reason to believe are involved in criminal activity and/or substance abuse.
The conditions also restrict contact with children: Lambier is not to be in the presence of any male or female children under age 16 unless they are accompanied by a responsible adult who knows his criminal history and has been approved in writing by his parole supervisor.
According to the Parole Board, Lambier was in a long-term relationship with Burchell’s grandmother when he murdered the child in 2005. The decision states Lambier was under an order not to be in the presence of minors without supervision, but he invited the nine-year-old to his home knowing no one would be there.
The board says Lambier gave Burchell alcohol and caused his death by smothering him. It also states that when Burchell was found, the button and zipper of his shorts were undone, and that Lambier contacted emergency services the following morning and reported that the victim was not breathing.
The Parole Board decision also records that, during the police investigation, Burchell’s sibling disclosed that Lambier had given him alcohol and touched him sexually about a month before the murder.
The board says Lambier’s charges of sexual assault, sexual interference, and invitation to sexual touching were withdrawn in 2006. It also cites criminal history including a three-year federal sentence in 1990 for sexually assaulting a minor female family member and a 1996 conviction for sexual assault involving another minor female family member, for which he received 10 months in custody and three years of probation.
Victoria Police said it did not notify the public that Lambier would be staying in the city. In a statement, the service said it conducts a risk assessment to determine whether public notification is warranted and that, “in this instance,” the assessment determined that public notification was not required.
Burchell’s mother, Tina Gervais, said she does not believe Lambier will change. “Do I think that people do change? Maybe they do. But for Douglas Lambier? I don’t think that anything is going to change for him,” she said.
Gervais said she is concerned about the Parole Board’s decision and about families being unaware of Lambier’s temporarily release. “Our systems failed, and we need a change; we shouldn’t have people like him out in our community,” she said, adding, “He got a life sentence; he should serve his whole life sentence.”
In a victim statement, Gervais said: “My son Brandon was nine years old. He had his whole life ahead of him,” and “Brandon doesn’t get another morning. He doesn’t get another birthday. He doesn’t get to become a teenager, a young man, a husband, a father, or a grandfather.”
← More stories