Killer granted day parole

A Kamloops man who was sentenced to four years in prison last fall for stabbing an acquaintance to death outside a Columbia Street motel has been granted day parole.

Now 36, James Dylan Sanford was charged with second-degree murder after Daniel Thomas Myles, 33, was fatally stabbed outside the Acadian Inn on Sept. 12, 2020. He was convicted by a jury last year of the lesser included offence of manslaughter.

Sanford and Myles were involved in a protracted dispute in the months leading up to the slaying, during which time Myles sent Sanford threatening text messages and sprayed mace into his suite at the motel.

On the day he was killed, Myles was alleged to have poured gasoline near Sanford’s balcony.

Surveillance video played at trial showed Sanford running after Myles and swinging at his back with a knife.

Jurors heard Myles was stabbed once in the back and bled to death.

Credited for keeping sober

In sentencing Sanford last year, B.C. Supreme Court Judge Sheri Donegan called the stabbing “the culmination of several weeks of threatening behaviour by Mr. Myles toward Mr. Sanford, his girlfriend and their pets.”

“Mr. Sanford was living in fear of Mr. Myles,” she said.

Sanford applied for parole. In a decision dated Friday, Parole Board of Canada officials denied his application for full parole but granted him day parole, to live in a half-way house in an unnamed community.

“The board has reached these findings based on your level of accountability, your successful period of time on bail, your ongoing sobriety, the positive progress in your correctional plan following successful program completion, your participation in [escorted temporary absences] and based on the viable release plan presented,” the board’s decision reads.

While on parole, Sanford will be bound by conditions prohibiting him from consuming, purchasing or possessing drugs, associating with any known criminals or drug users and having any contact with any members of Myles’ family. He will also be required to follow a treatment plan outlined by his parole officer.