KINGSTON
-- After watching her son's killer have his bid for early release
denied by the National Parole Board, a relieved Paulette Moffitt left
the Bath medium- security prison yesterday and headed home to
Brockville.
"Home for a good night's sleep. At last," she said. "I will sleep well knowing he's behind bars where he belongs."
It was a surreal setting. There was Henry Danninger, flanked by his
lawyer and his parole officer, sitting before the parole board panel at
the end of the prison's visiting area adjacent to a children's
playground area.
A mural of cartoon characters overlooked
the proceedings. There were Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Fred and Wilma
Flintstone, Bert and Ernie, Bugs Bunny and Homer Simpson -- all looking
down at the 31-year-old man who, after numerous parole-hearing
postponements, was now facing his victim's family and friends, and
vying for day parole and a transfer to an Ottawa halfway house.
And with cartoons as a backdrop.
What Henry Danninger did on the eve of Christmas Eve, 1998, however,
was not rated G. What he did was arm himself with what he called a "bad
ass knife," and headed off to the Coyote Bar in Sandy Hill to confront
a former roommate he suspected of scooping his stash of drugs and being
cruel to his pets.
MEDAL OF BRAVERY
In the melee that ensued, following a beer bottle being smashed over a
head, and a patron being kneed twice in the groin, Andy Moffitt -- a
computer whiz celebrating the end of exams -- stepped up as an innocent
peacemaker and was fatally stabbed through the heart.
The act of courage that cost the young man
his life saw him being posthumously awarded the Governor General's
Medal of Bravery in 2003.
As he faced the parole panel, Danninger --
having copped a guilty plea to manslaughter in exchange for five years
in prison -- looked like a cartoon character himself, a far cry from
the heavy-set thug he was, cigarette dangling from his mouth when he
was photographed outside the Ottawa courthouse almost five years ago.
His hair is shaven. His skin is sallow. And he has lost some 80 lbs.
Back in April, Paulette Moffitt's phone rang a little after 8 p.m. --
leaving her thinking it was too late in the day to be anyone but family
or friends.
It was neither.
Instead, it was the National Parole Board's Carol Sparling, calling to
inform the Moffitts that their heroic son's killer had asked for yet
another postponement of his parole hearing -- a hearing that was slated
to be heard the next week.
For the fifth time, this time near the
11th hour, a drug dealer turned killer named Henry Danninger had been
given leave to bring more turmoil to his victim's family.
They had to circle July 26 on their calendar. And again start counting the days.
"This is truly eating away at us," Paulette Moffitt said at the time.
"I really think I have an ulcer. I haven't slept through one night in
the last two weeks thinking about next week's hearing and, when I get
up, I get a migraine so bad that it turns my stomach. And now this
phone call comes.
"This is no way to live. It's hell on earth -- hell for me, hell for my husband, and hell for our other two sons.
"Imagine how they must feel."
Yesterday, the parole board got to hear how they felt, as family
members and friends read victim impact statements, including one from
best friend Craig Wells, who held the dying Andy Moffitt in his arms.
"I placed my hand over his chest with a
T-shirt in a futile attempt to stop the torrent of blood," he said.
"And I felt his heart stop and restart as we tried to keep him alive."
There was brother, Rod; cousin, Emily
Smith; and good friend Karen Visser. All delivering heart-wrenching
words. Then there was Paulette Moffitt, telling of how her now
18-year-old son Michael's life has turned to turmoil.
He was only 11 when a policeman stood at their door, and said his brother would not be coming home.
"Please do not release Henry Danninger," the mother pleaded. "Please
give Michael a chance to lead a healthy productive life. Let him see
the world is not a cruel and cold-hearted place."
Paulette Moffitt got her wish, but not because the parole board was thinking of Michael's future.
They were thinking of Danninger and how he could not explain his
actions, at least not enough to earn some freedom -- even with only a
year to go in his sentence.
Even if Danninger never again applies for parole, he will be out on statutory release in August 2006.
"Surprisingly, I have a better life here," he said, comparing his days
in prison to his house arrest awaiting trial. "I've lost 80 lbs., and I
don't smoke."
mark.bonokoski@tor.sunpub.com
