Full parole granted to man who killed Regina prostitute

Steven Kummerfield after a court appearance in 1997

MISSION, B.C. — A man who beat a Regina prostitute to death has been granted full parole. The original case outraged Saskatchewan's women's and aboriginal groups.

Steven Kummerfield was convicted of manslaughter in the beating death of Pamela Jean George in 1995.

"The board noted you speak little about your victim and the suffering you caused her and the family she left behind," Gus Richardson, a parole board member said.

But he noted the board did not see Kummerfield as "an undue risk on full parole."

Kummerfield, a former university basketball star, admitted at his trial that he picked up George after a night of heavy drinking. His friend, Alex Ternowetsky, was hiding in the trunk.

They took George, a 28-year-old mother of two, to the outskirts of Regina for sex. Then they beat her and left her in a ditch.

Kummerfield and Ternowetsky testified that George was still alive when they left her. But their friends told the court the two boasted of picking up an aboriginal prostitute and beating her to death.

The two were charged with first-degree murder. During their trial, Justice Ted Malone of the Court of Queen's Bench reminded the jury George "indeed was a prostitute" when they considered if she had consented to sex.

Consent was key to the two being found guilty on the lesser charge of manslaughter.

The judge's charge outraged women's groups. And aboriginal groups believed the two men got a lenient sentence of 6 1/2 years because of their affluent, white backgrounds.

Kummerfield, now 24, will continue to live and work in the Vancouver area. He must check in with a parole officer, stay in Canada and not possess any weapons.

Kummerfield says he hopes to return to university next fall to pursue creative writing.