Appeal dismissed in New York for notorious sex offender who committed crimes in NS
A sex offender who spent two decades in Canada and was declared a dangerous offender, but was later extradited to the US to serve time for crimes previously committed in New York, has lost his appeal to have his conviction overturned.
William Shrubsall, 52, is serving time in Marcy, NY, for sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl and jumping bail. He was 24 at the time of the assault.
At his trial in Niagara Falls, NY, in May 1996, he left a suicide note stating that he would jump in Niagara Falls.
Within days, Shrubsall turned up in Nova Scotia. Before his arrest in June 1998, he committed a series of violent crimes and assaults.
Shrubsall was classified as a dangerous offender in 2001 and given an indefinite prison sentence.
A CBC News investigation found that Canadian parole members did not dispute factual misrepresentations Shrubsall made to them during a 2018 parole hearing. Their controversial decision to parole him paved the way for his 2019 deportation to the US, sparking outrage.
In 2020, Shrubsall pleaded guilty to bail and criminal contemptbut he appealed, in part arguing that his constitutional right to a speedy trial had been denied.
What the court ruling says
A court ruling last month from the Supreme Court of the New York State Appellate Division, Fourth Judicial Division, rejected Shrubsall’s appeal.
“[T]It appears from his record that the cause of the extraordinary delay here was the defendant’s decision to withdraw from his pending sex trial, leave behind a false suicide note, and abscond to Canada where, using various aliases, he committed several violent physical and sexual assaults against women, resulting in his convictions for several crimes, designation as a dangerous offender and corresponding long prison sentences in Canada,” the court ruling said.
Also, the decision notes that U.S. authorities made “diligent, good faith efforts” to have Shrubsall extradited to stand trial on the bail charge, but acknowledged that Canada was unlikely to do so.
Recent attempted release
Shrubsall also recently filed for parole, which was rejected.
The parole order stated, “there is a reasonable chance that you would not live in freedom without breaking the law again. Your release at this time would be incompatible with the good of society.”
Shrubsall’s next parole hearing is in October 2024.
It is unclear how long Shrubsall will remain in custody. The combined length of his sentences ranges from approximately four to 13 years, and he has been in the US since January 2019.
Shrubsall’s long criminal history dates back to his teenage years.
In 1988, at the age of 17, he beat his mother to death with a baseball bat the night before he graduated high school in Niagara Falls, where he was to be valedictorian. He ended up serving 16 months.
