MANDEL: Cheerleader's sex killer remains safely behind bars

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It was May 28, 1982, and beautiful Jenny Isford, an Ontario scholar and aspiring actress, was getting off the Bayview North bus on her way home from an Argo SUNshine cheerleading team practice and evening out with the squad.

The 19-year-old wouldn’t have known that stalking her was William Brett Henson, a sexual predator with a fetish for lingerie and an obsession with pretty blondes.

Isford was just five doors away from her family’s Willowdale home when Henson grabbed her by the neck. He slammed her up against a tree, choked the life from her and then tore off her khaki jumpsuit and raped her.

Her nearly-nude body was discovered the next morning on a neighbour’s lawn, on her back, her knees splayed and her semen-stained clothes folded neatly beside her. All that was missing — though we weren’t told that at the time — were the pantyhose she wore instead of underwear so no panty lines would show.

I remember being terrified that summer of the bogeyman who remained at large; I used to go home that way as well, past the stop where Isford stepped off that night and where she would be viciously killed just metres away. Many women in Toronto no longer took transit alone at night.

It took 13 long years before advances in the use of DNA would finally bring Isford’s killer to justice.

Convicted of her murder in 1997, Henson was sentenced to life without parole for at least 25 years.

How quickly time passes. Now eligible for release, his case was recently reviewed by the parole board without a hearing because he didn’t request one — even he knew his chances were slim.

The decision released last week began by outlining his past: “Your extensive violent criminal history and abysmal record of community supervision are considerable aggravating factors,” the panel wrote.

“File information indicates you have an extensive record of sexually violent behaviour towards women, which you tend to downplay and deny responsibility for your level of involvement.”

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Henson was convicted of choking a woman and trying to tear her clothes off in a tavern washroom in 1981 and was sentenced to six months. He was an early suspect in Isford’s slaying, especially after a suitcase of lingerie was found by police in his apartment. He agreed to provide a spit sample in August 1982 but DNA technology was too new at the time to make a match.

So more women would suffer.

Just 16 days after the murder, Henson began choking another young blonde woman in an apartment elevator before letting her go. He was jailed 18 months but received an extra year for escaping custody and attacking a guard.

In 1985, Henson followed another blonde victim into the elevator of her Yonge-Eglinton-area building and began strangling her until she was saved by a neighbour who heard their struggle. He was sentenced to three years.

Released on mandatory supervision in 1987, it took Henson just 48 days to strike again: he choked a waitress in the Zanzibar washroom before fleeing when another woman walked in. He was returned to prison to serve another five years.

Still on the police radar, and with the advent of DNA testing, his discarded cigarette butt was picked up in 1995 and was a clear match to Isford’s killer. He’s been safely in prison ever since.

Now 65, Henson hasn’t been a model inmate; incidents have included passing inappropriate notes to female correctional staff, threatening to kill someone so he could stay in maximum security, refusing urinalysis and providing samples that tested positive for THC. “Your problematic institutional behaviour is considered aggravating,” the board wrote.

He’s had multiple jobs in the institution. The latest? Chapel clerk.

Henson didn’t agree to a psychological interview or submit a parole release plan. While he’s shown some improvement, they found he remains dangerous with a low potential for reintegration.

“You are a fourth-time federal offender, and you have a violent and extensive criminal history that demonstrates the potential for serious harm should you reoffend,” the panel concluded. “It is clear to the board that you have more work to do to mitigate your risk, and that your risk is not considered manageable in society and there is the potential for serious harm should you reoffend.”

And so the bogeyman of my youth remains behind bars. For now.

mmandel@postmedia.com