By Canadian Press

Marco Muzzo, drunk driver who killed four, granted full parole

Feb 9, 2021 | 1:22 PM

A Toronto-area drunk driver who killed three children and their grandfather in a crash that captured national attention was granted full parole Tuesday more than five years after the incident.

The decision was made as Marco Muzzo appeared before the Parole Board of Canada in a remote hearing that also heard the victims’ grieving relatives describe the ongoing trauma caused by their loss.

Before the decision was delivered, Muzzo said that while he can’t change the past, he hopes to help prevent others from doing what he did.

“I’m not asking for forgiveness and nor do I ever expect it,” he told the board.

“I know my reintegration has been slow and will continue to be slow and steady.”

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The board imposed a number of conditions, including that Muzzo not consume alcohol or go into bars and strip clubs, and that he stay out of Brampton, Ont., and the Regional Municipality of York.

Muzzo was sentenced to 10 years behind bars after pleading guilty in 2016 to four counts of impaired driving causing death and two of impaired driving causing bodily harm.

Nine-year-old Daniel Neville-Lake, his five-year-old brother Harrison, their two-year-old sister Milly and the children’s 65-year-old grandfather, Gary Neville, were killed in the September 2015 crash.

The children’s grandmother and great-grandmother were also seriously injured in the collision in Vaughan, Ont.

At Tuesday’s hearing, the children’s parents urged the board to not grant Muzzo parole, saying he has not truly taken responsibility or shown remorse for his actions.

They also asked that, should Muzzo be released on full parole, he do so in another province to spare them the stress of potentially crossing paths with him.

“He scares me. The thought of him being out on the street frightens me greatly. I get panicked and anxious thinking about him,” Jennifer Neville-Lake told the board.

“There is absolutely nothing that can be done to spin the death of all of my children and my father into something good. The idea that three innocent kids have to pay the price for him to learn a common sense lesson about decency, responsibility, and road safety is repugnant.”

Muzzo was previously denied full parole last April, though he was granted day parole at that time.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 9, 2021.

Paola Loriggio, The Canadian Press