Cape Breton arson suspect has been in and out of prison over last 30 years

A Cape Breton man who was the subject of an emergency alert last week and subsequently charged with a variety of violent offences has been in and out of prison several times over the last 30 years while serving a life sentence for murder, according to documents from the Parole Board of Canada.

Kenneth Scott MacPhee's only criminal conviction was for second-degree murder in the strangulation of 68-year-old Sydney Swinamer after a booze-and-drug-fuelled robbery in 1991.

According to parole board decisions, MacPhee, now 53, was granted release twice while serving a 25-year sentence at Dorchester Penitentiary in Dorchester, N.B.

Initially, the board said MacPhee had made "considerable gains" and was not a risk to the public.

Both times, his parole was revoked or suspended for drug and alcohol use and domestic disturbances with intimate partners.

In 2010, his partner said he had become "irrational" and "frightening," busting up the television after an argument.

Threats, drinking and drugs

His brothers also reported that MacPhee had threatened to kill or harm an unnamed individual, later identified as his partner's brother-in-law.

His family then withdrew the allegations of threats, but an investigation revealed that MacPhee had been drinking and taking drugs for back pain without reporting to parole authorities.

The parole board then revoked MacPhee's release, saying it "would create an undue risk to society."

In 2015, the board granted MacPhee day parole again, saying his breaches were escalating, but it remained "cautiously supportive" despite "a pattern of withholding pertinent information" while out of prison and a "capacity for violent reoffending."

MacPhee was praised for taking advantage of courses and counselling while behind bars and was given full parole in 2016, 25 years after the murder.

But it was again suspended early in 2022 due to possible drug and alcohol use and reports that he had been "demanding" and "controlling" toward a partner.

The board cancelled that suspension several months later, saying that MacPhee had successfully completed a number of courses to help him manage his life and had taken steps to distance himself from people who were a negative influence, including his former partner.

Parole intended to reintegrate offenders

MacPhee then spent six more months in a community facility and was ordered to take further psychological counselling.

Eighteen months later, MacPhee is facing charges including arson, uttering threats and firearms offences after a house was burned down in rural Cape Breton Regional Municipality.

In its decisions, the parole board says its mandate is to determine whether an offender presents an undue risk to society, but also to determine whether release "will contribute to the protection of society by facilitating ... reintegration into society as a law-abiding citizen."