EDMONTON – An Alberta woman who pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the murder of her abusive husband of 27 years has been allowed unescorted absences from prison and, once eligible early next year, one day of freedom conditional.
In September 2011, Helen Naslund, now 58, shot her husband Miles Naslund twice in the head while he was in bed on a farm near Holden, Alta, about 100 kilometers southeast of Edmonton.
Naslund and one of her three sons disposed of the body and “misled police with a fabricated story about the victim’s disappearance” for six years, the Parole Board of Canada said in a written decision this week. It wasn’t until August 2017 that another son revealed the crime to the police.
Naslund and the son who helped dispose of her husband’s body turned themselves in a month later. Neil Naslund was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to offering an indignity to human remains.
The Parole Board said Naslund feels betrayed by the son who tipped off police and she is not ready to reconnect with him.
The original trial heard that after Naslund killed her husband, she and her son put his body in a metal box and used a boat to dump it in a marshy area on their farm. They dumped the .22 caliber gun in a cave and buried the man’s car in a field.
Police initially investigated Miles Naslund as a missing person and only after receiving the tip did they pursue the case as a homicide. Investigators, with the help of a diving team, found the body six years after he disappeared.
Helen Naslund was released on bail for three years before being sentenced. The Parole Board said there were no reported problems with her during that period.
In 2020, Naslund was sentenced to 18 years in prison, but upon appeal, her sentence was reduced to nine years minus the time already served.
The Court of Appeal found that Naslund had symptoms of “battered woman syndrome”, a psychological condition that can develop from ongoing abuse by an intimate partner.
“As the Court of Appeals noted, due to her history of abuse, concern for her children, depression and learned helplessness, she felt she could not leave the relationship,” the Parole Board said.
In its decision, the board also considered his severe depression and alcohol use as a result of the abusive relationship, including a suicide attempt in 2003.
During Naslund’s incarceration, the board says she voluntarily participated in various initiatives, including a women’s engagement program, a healthy relationships program, behavioral therapy and psychological counseling.
In its decision, the board tells Naslund that it considered “the significant accomplishments she has made during this sentence, particularly in terms of her emotions, self-care, and limit-setting, and her continued high level of motivation to complete programming and available voluntary interventions”. to you at the institution.”
The board considers Naslund to be at very low risk of recidivism, adding that it does not believe she is “criminally entrenched in any way.”
Naslund was allowed one-day probation once he becomes eligible early next year for six months, at which point he will be eligible for full probation. He must report all sexual and non-sexual relationships and friendships with men to his probation officer, as well as any changes in the status of his relationships with others.
“This special condition is considered reasonable and necessary to protect society and facilitate their successful reintegration into the community,” the board said in its decision.
Meanwhile, Naslund has been granted four monthly unescorted furloughs of up to 72 hours.
His probation officer told the board that he has seen “tremendous growth” in Naslund during his two years behind bars.
While Naslund is on day parole, he must reside at a specified residence and any plans to leave the residence must be approved.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on December 23, 2022.
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This story was produced with the financial assistance of Meta and the Canadian Press News Fellowship.
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