Halifax man serving manslaughter sentence being released from prison

A Halifax man with a history of violence is being released from prison, even though the Parole Board of Canada said he is a high risk to reoffend.

Joseph James Greene, 61, is serving an 11-year, four-month sentence for manslaughter. Under the law, most federal offenders must be released after serving two-thirds of their sentence.

Due to the risk Greene poses, the parole board is ordering that he must live in a halfway house until the final day of his sentence.

The board has also attached conditions that Greene must abide by, including that he abstain from drugs and alcohol and stay away from his victim’s family.

Greene shot and killed Patrick Ernest Deagle in Enfield, N.S., in August 2015. Greene fled the scene but was arrested the next day. He was initially charged with second-degree murder but was convicted of the lesser charge of manslaughter.

Prior convictions

Greene has a lengthy criminal history, including 41 convictions. In a hearing earlier this month, the parole board noted: “There appears to be a few crime-free periods of more than one year since the beginning of your criminal history in 1979. Otherwise your criminal history is continual and punctuated by significant violence.”

An assessment conducted for the board found that Greene was a moderate to high risk to reoffend violently.

The board rejected the idea that he could simply be released into the community when he reached his statutory release date.

“The board has also considered your release plans and is not satisfied that there are any supervision strategies, programs or interventions, culturally relevant or otherwise, that could effectively manage the risk you pose at this time outside of a residency condition.”

Greene had applied for parole in 2020, but was denied.