MANDEL: Could cop killer be heading to a Jamaican beach soon?

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There was much relief when cop killer Clinton Junior Gayle was refused parole following his hearing three weeks ago.

But in the written reasons just released by the parole board, it appears the panel only declined to release him on day parole because he’d be immediately deported to Jamaica and they don’t feel his plan to live there with his family is ready – yet.

So brush up the plan, and he’s likely out of here.

“Then his life sentence is over. We lose guardianship,” warns Tim Danson, lawyer for the victims. “Within 48 hours, he’ll be on a beach in Jamaica.”

Gayle, 56, is serving life for the execution of Toronto Police Const. Todd Baylis and the attempted murder of his partner, then-Const. Michael Leone, on June 16, 1994. The convicted gun-toting crack dealer ran into the two young officers while plying his trade in the public housing complex on Trethewey Dr. 

On bail and with an unenforced deportation order over his head, he couldn’t afford to be arrested. Gayle punched Baylis in the chest, pulled out his stolen 9mm semi-automatic and shot Leone in the shoulder and back.

As Baylis lay on the ground with a broken ankle, Gayle then placed his firearm no more than six inches from his temple and pulled the trigger.

Leone almost met the same fate but luckily, Gayle’s gun jammed.

For years, despite the findings of several courts, the cold-blooded killer claimed he only shot in self-defence. During his Oct. 29 hearing at his minimum security prison in British Columbia, he told the parole board it was impulsive and he opened fire without thinking.

“You told the board that your account remains different than the official version but that you take full responsibility for taking the officer’s life because it was you that was involved in a criminal lifestyle, carried a gun and focused on escaping from the police,” the panel wrote in its decision.

The board acknowledged their “deep compassion” for the victims after hearing the impact statements by Leone and Baylis’s brother and mother.

“Family members expressed their deep and unrelenting pain and emotional trauma given the horrific nature of offence, execution style nature of the murder, your subsequent manipulative statements and the absence of remorse and empathy on your part,” they wrote.

“The victim’s partner, who also experienced the horrific events of the index offences, conveyed concerns about the lack of supervision if you are deported as well as his doubts related to your level of insight and genuine remorse.”

Gayle told the board he was motivated back then by fast money and status. In prison, he initially ran into trouble by associating with a gang, running a canteen, fighting and possessing weapons.

But now he is a different person. He reads the Bible, recognizes “that crime for gain, drug involvement and violence are not acceptable,” and he has completed more than 60 escorted temporary absences into the community without incident.

His most recent Psychological Risk Assessment, completed in September 2024, indicates Gayle is “low risk for general and
violent reoffending.” His reintegration potential is rated as medium.

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Correctional Service of Canada recommended he be granted day parole. But due to his active deportation order, the Canada Border Service Agency (CBSA) would take him into custody and ship him back to Jamaica where Gayle wants to live with his mom and stepbrother and has lined up job opportunities with relatives.

Not quite yet, said the parole board.

“The Board finds that the absence of gradual and structured release in which you would be subject to monitoring and supervision is not sufficient to manage your risk at this time,” the panel wrote.

“Absent from your release plan is a realistic and fulsome understanding of the pressures, stresses and dynamics related to your transition to Jamaica,” the decision continued. “You have not developed a clear understanding or strategies as to how you will manage all of the new, unknown and potentially high risk situations, locations and people that will impact your reintegration.”

So go back, they told him, and come up with a more detailed plan.

Paving the way to his enjoying the rest of his life term under the unsupervised Jamaican sun.

mmandel@postmedia.com