Accused killer’s early release processed despite looming murder charge: documents By: Ryan Thorpe Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Friday, Mar. 22, 2019 Last Modified: 9:45 AM CDT Monday, Mar. 25, 2019 Updates

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/03/2019 (2009 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As Stony Mountain Institution was preparing to release Kane Moar — a 21-year-old prisoner with a violent criminal history who’d served two-thirds of his sentence — a red flag was raised, indicating he was set to be charged in the slaying of a fellow inmate.

However, that red flag wasn’t enough to make Correctional Services Canada recommend his statutory release be denied. Instead, he was allowed to serve the rest of his sentence in the community. Within days, Moar was on the run for an alleged crime spree through Winnipeg’s streets.

A week before Christmas 2018, 34-year-old Ricardo Hibi was stabbed to death, leaving behind a fiancée and young son. The man who wielded the knife, according to police, was Moar.

Now, Hibi’s family and friends want answers as to why their loved one’s alleged killer was released from prison in the first place.

“Ricardo would still be alive today if the parole board had not let (Moar) out of prison. His six-year-old son would still have a father and his soon-to-be wife would become a wife, not a widow,” said Agnieszka Piotrowski, one of Hibi’s closest friends.

Moar’s initial sentence stemmed from a June 16, 2016, incident in which he confronted a man riding a bike in Winnipeg. Moar swung a hatchet at the man, hitting him in the neck, then stole his bicycle. He was arrested a short time later.

It wasn’t his first run-in with the law. Moar had previously been found guilty of aggravated assault, after he repeatedly stabbed someone he thought was a rival gang member.

While at Stony Mountain, Moar was “institutionally charged a number of times.”

On Aug. 16, 2018, he’s alleged to have participated — along with three other accused — in a fatal attack on prisoner Adam Kent Monias, 25.

While Moar wasn’t charged for the slaying until this month, documents obtained by the Free Press reveal the Parole Board of Canada knew the charge was coming when it processed his statutory release.

“Recent reports on file indicate on Aug. 24, 2018, security intelligence information was received that you were involved in the murder of an inmate. Reports note you will be charged with second-degree murder,” the document reads.

Statutory releases — which kick in after a federal inmate has served two-thirds of their sentence — are legislated. As such, they are processed — not granted — by the parole board.

However, when there are “reasonable grounds” to believe an inmate is likely to reoffend in a way that will cause serious harm or death, among other considerations, a detention order can be issued. The CSC did not recommend a detention order in Moar’s case, so the PBC of processed his statutory release.

Moar’s parole board documents make clear, in addition to his pending charge for second-degree murder, he’d also been identified by officials as a “high risk” to violently reoffend and someone with “low” motivation to change their life.

“Your case management team note you have been involved in crime since a young age and that there have been no breaks in your offending behaviour. Your offending has escalated over time,” the report reads.

Despite all of this, Moar’s statutory release was processed Oct. 12, 2018 — roughly two months after he was alleged to have killed a fellow inmate. One week later, he skipped out on the halfway house at which he was required to reside. A month after that, Hibi was dead.

While few details have been released, Moar is alleged to have stabbed Hibi to death at a McGee Street group home the latter ran for vulnerable, at-risk youth. After experiencing a difficult childhood, Hibi had dedicated his life to helping others going through similar experiences.

Moar wasn’t taken into custody until Jan. 7. Parole documents reveal since his arrest he’s told corrections officials it was the “paranoia” he felt from the murder charge hanging over his head that fuelled his decision to go on the run and allegedly begin a crime spree that culminated in Hibi’s death.

“He never should have been let out if they knew there were going to be charges of second-degree murder. Because of that negligence he murdered another person, an innocent human being. Who’s going to be held accountable for that?” Piotrowski said.

“We shouldn’t be allowing people out of jail before their sentences are up when there is clear evidence they’ll hurt people. I want to know from the parole board why a detention order wasn’t issued. Ricardo and his family deserve a response and they deserve justice.”

Moar’s next court date is Sept. 3.

ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @rk_thorpe

Ryan Thorpe
Reporter

Ryan Thorpe likes the pace of daily news, the feeling of a broadsheet in his hands and the stress of never-ending deadlines hanging over his head.

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