MANDEL: Cop killer blames victim's family for lack of freedom

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This story begins with a man walking into a bar.

But there is no punch line here, no joke. It was shortly after midnight on May 31, 1997 when Allen MacDonald, a North York fire captain and former chairman of the local police services board, strode into the crowded Commodore Hotel in Penetanguishene and placed his loaded illegal handgun at the back of the head of off-duty OPP Const. Tom Coffin.

And then he pulled the trigger.

The young father of three was executed because MacDonald blamed him for ruining his life — he’d had the nerve to charge him with impaired driving a year before, and his testimony had netted him a conviction and the loss of his licence for a year.

So when he saw the bartender treat Coffin and his partner Steve Roden to a free drink, his simmering rage finally exploded. MacDonald, then 51, went home to get his handgun and returned to shoot the 32-year-old officer from behind, killing him instantly. When his partner gave chase, MacDonald turned and pointed the gun at him — but luckily, it jammed.

It took a Barrie jury just six hours to convict him of first-degree murder and assault with a weapon, rejecting his defence that he was mentally ill at the time.

That had been his plan: MacDonald had told several people, including his Toronto family doctor, that he was going to “blow Tom Coffin‘s brains out” and then plead insanity because of his emotional troubles. His doc put him on Prozac for depression and wanted him voluntarily committed — but MacDonald refused, assuring him his threats of revenge were all talk.

But they were all too real.

Fast-forward 27 years and now 75, the convicted killer is serving life in prison but wants to be released on two unescorted passes to a halfway house in Ottawa — one for eight days and the other for 15.

At his hearing, the cop killer told the parole board that after his conviction for drunk driving, he “lost all sense of rational thinking” and with his medication, excessive alcohol and depression, he could barely get out of bed.

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“You did not explain to the Board how, while in that state, you were obsessed enough to secure a firearm, ammunition and carry out the murder,” the panel wrote in its recent decision.

MacDonald continues to attribute the murder to his substance abuse and unstable mental health. But he’s sober now — and we should all just “move on” — including the family of the man he killed in cold blood, whom he blames for standing in his way of more freedom.

“You were frustrated that the offence was over 27 years ago, and while you have been patient, the past cannot be undone,” the parole board wrote in summarizing his feelings. “Further, your actions were against the victim only and not the victim’s family. You have never harmed nor intend to harm anyone else, and take issue with the victim’s wife implying you are a threat to her, her family or anyone else in the community.”

Wisely, the parole board noted MacDonald’s “strained victim empathy” and his arrogant dismissal of any of the board’s concerns.

“You practically diminished the impact of your offending on the victim’s family by dictating how you think they should feel, which was rather inconsiderate and insensitive. Again, rather than appreciating that it is your actions that have caused them so much trauma and landed you in this situation, you blame them for impeding your progress,” the panel wrote.

“Further, your lack of insight into the violence used, your persistent sense of entitlement, your lack of self-reflection about your own shortcomings and triggers, your rigid approach to things, your sense of always being right, and your victimization stance towards those you do not agree with, have raised concerns with the Board.”

So permission denied and the joke’s on him.

mmandel@postmedia.com