Latimer released from prison ahead of day parole

Robert Latimer, who has spent seven years in prison for killing his disabled daughter, boarded an airplane and left British Columbia Thursday after being granted a four-day, unescorted temporary absence.

It wasn't immediately clear where the Saskatchewan farmer was headed, although he's believed to have travelled to his family farm in Wilkie, Sask., to be with his wife and three children.

"I can tell you that late yesterday afternoon Robert Latimer left quietly from Victoria airport heading east, of course," Victoria Airport Authority president Richard Paquette told CBC News.

The National Parole Board granted Latimer an unescorted temporary absence Thursday to visit a sick friend or relative before his day parole begins in Ottawa.

Although the parole board did not say where he was headed, Latimer said at a parole hearing in December that his mother, who also lives in Saskatchewan, was ill.

A lawyer with the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, Jason Gratl, would not comment Friday on Latimer's whereabouts.

Latimer was originally expected to be released from prison on Friday, following a February parole board ruling that he be released on day parole.

His sister, Marj Mosienko, who lives in Ottawa, told the Canadian Press she was unaware Latimer had been released and wasn't expecting him until Monday.

A call to Latimer's family home was unanswered Friday night. Speaking from New Brunswick, a brother-in-law said he is glad Latimer has finally been released.

"It's nice to have it finally occur," Stuart Martin said. "It's been a long while in the process."

Latimer was convicted of second-degree murder after admitting he killed his severely disabled 12-year-old daughter Tracy with carbon monoxide in his truck on the family's farm in 1993.

Latimer has served seven years of a life sentence as a minimum-security inmate at William Head prison in Victoria. Officials there refused to say Friday where he was headed after his release.

Paquette said that Latimer's departure didn't attract much attention.

"I was aware that it was happening and we wanted to respect his wishes that it be kept quiet … there are such strong feelings about the man and the events that have transpired, I was very happy that it was a quiet event at the airport and we didn't have a disruption to normal affairs here."

Thursday's five-page ruling said that allowing Latimer to visit an ill friend or relative did not present an undue risk, and that a parole officer would supervise him during the absence.

Latimer has been accepted into two halfway houses in Ottawa but it is unclear which will have a bed ready for him first.