Jesse Jacob Roshuk, who killed St. Albert man Ryan Bruce Dragich in 2007, was granted full parole earlier this month.
Roshuk killed Dragich, who was originally from St. Albert, after a heated argument and a long evening of drinking in Peace River. Dragich had moved to Peace River just five months prior to take a job in the northern community and was living with Roshuk at the time.
On Feb. 10, 2007, Roshuk and Dragich went out to a local bar and both drank heavily. They returned with a friend to their shared apartment and continued to drink. An argument developed at some point and the noise prompted a visit from the police.
Officers were at the house for about 10 minutes, but then left only to be called back shortly afterwards with reports of a gunshot.
When Roshuk entered his guilty plea to manslaughter he was unable to explain what caused him to shoot Dragich and it appears his time in prison has not yielded that answer either.
“There was no apparent motive for the killing — in a highly intoxicated state, you loaded a gun and inexplicably shot your victim at close range,” reads the parole board report.
Last year the parole board granted Roshuk day parole, which required him to return nightly to a halfway house, but he will now be able to live on his own.
He was sentenced in January 2008 to 10 years in prison. That sentence will remain active until 2018 and should he breach any of his parole conditions, he could be returned to prison.
The background in the parole board report on Roshuk identifies himself as someone who struggled with alcohol and drugs for much of his life. He has told the parole board he was expelled from high school for drug possession and fighting. He remains a few credits short of his high school diploma.
Roshuk has been on day parole for the last year and has started working on a heavy-duty-mechanic apprenticeship. He has also started to attend alcohol counselling and created a new circle of friends.
The parole board imposed two conditions that Roshuk will have to follow if he is to avoid being returned to jail. He will have to abstain from alcohol and he will have to avoid anyone who is involved in criminal activity.
Regarding alcohol, the board noted it was encouraged to see Roshuk take control of his own addiction. Given the significant role alcohol had played in Roshuk’s crime, the board said: “It remains necessary that you abstain from alcohol while under community supervision.”
The board said it wanted Roshuk to stay away from people involved in criminal activity, because in the past he had been influenced into criminal behaviour.
