For the first time since fleeing the United States more than two decades ago, William Shrubsall - now known as Ethan MacLeod - appeared in a Niagara County Courtroom Tuesday. The man who first gained notoriety for killing his mother, and then escaped into Canada to avoid his sentence for a sexual assault conviction, was brought back to the US Monday to face unfinished legal business on this side of the border.
The defendant, whose legal name is now Ethan Simon Templar MacLeod, arrived at the Niagara County Courthouse dressed in an orange jumper and hooded sweatshirt bearing the initials NCCF on the back. As he was led to the basement level entrance to the building, he kept his head down, partially obscuring his thick mustache.
With public defender David Blackley at his side, he entered a plea of not guilty to Bail Jumping in the first degree and Criminal Contempt in the second degree. Judge Richard Kloch then completed the paperwork needed to commence the two-and-a-third to seven years he must serve in state prison for the 1996 sexual assault conviction from which he fled. He had been free on $20,000 bail, but escaped to Canada while trying to convince authorities on this side of the border he had taken his own life by going over Niagara Falls.
"What I've learned, looking back at the file, is that he left a suicide note and took off, and did not appear in court the morning of closing arguments, the charge to the jury and ultimately his conviction," said Niagara County District Attorney Caroline Wojtaszek, whose predecessor Matthew Murphy prosecuted the former William Shrubsall in the sexual assault case.
MacLeod first gained notoriety when he killed his mother on the eve of his high school graduation in June 1988. He was to deliver the valedictorian's address before classmates of LaSalle High School in Niagara Falls. He blamed years of mental and physical abuse and was sentenced for manslaughter as a youthful offender, serving just 16 months behind bars.
In 1995, he was arrested for picking up an undercover police officer who was posing as a prostitute. Later in the year, he was arrested and charged with multiple counts in relation to the sexual assault of a then 17-year-old girl who, according to prosecutors, had passed out following drinking at a local party.
After entering Canada to escape prison time in the latter case, he settled in Nova Scotia, where in 1998 he was arrested and later convicted for the violent assault of a store clerk with a baseball bat, the violent sexual assault of a woman on a Halifax street and the beating of a woman who was trying to leave his residence.
MacLeod, who was imprisoned in Canada since December 2001 for convictions in multiple violent and sometimes sexual assaults, had been deemed a "dangerous offender" by authorities there. However, this past November the Parole Board of Canada granted him parole, after several previous rejections following hearings in 2012, 2014 and 2016.
In the document confirming his pardon in November 2018, which was published by the Buffalo News, it is written: "To make its decision, the Board must determine whether you will not, be re-offending, present an undue risk to society before the expiration of your sentence. The Board must also consider whether your release will contribute to the protection of society by facilitating your reintegration into society as a law-abiding citizen.
"The Board considered your written representations received by the Board on August 29, 2018 in which you outline your release plan. Letters from outside supports were received by the Board on October 16, 2018 and September 27, 2018 and were also taken into consideration as they show that there are services available in the (redacted) to help you reintegrate into society. The Board is also in receipt of your lawyer's submission from November 6, 2018 outlining the parole system in (redacted).
"After considering the following information, the Board has decided to take no action on your day parole and to grant full parole for deportation."
The written decision then details that while a psychologist concluded he was still a high risk to commit another sexual offense, the Board noted he had successfully completed anger management training.
"They based their decision on the idea that he owed significant time to the United States," Wojtaszek said. "But it's also important to note that back when he was convicted of Sexual Abuse in the First Degree, it was an indeterminate sentence of two-and-a-third to seven years in state prison. That same charge today is a violent felony that carries a determinate sentence of up to seven years."
What it means is that, based on a guildelines of sentencing back in 1996, MacLeod will be eligible for parole in just 28 months. Wojtaszek says if convicted of his bail jumping charge, he would face up to an additional two-and-a-third years in prison and she would push to have that time served consecutively.
Wojtaszek is among those concerned for the public's safety in the event MacLeod were to leave prison. In a previous interview with WBFO, she admitted her surprise by the Parole Board of Canada's decision and suggested one option to keep MacLeod away from society upon the conclusion of prison time. It's Article 10 of the state's Mental Hygiene Law, which could force him into indefinite civil confinement.
It would give prosecutors in New York the opportunity to build a case that, according to Wojtaszek, could include testimony by MacLeod's Canadian victims.
"That is handled by the Attorney General's Office, upon someone's release from jail. And yes, their entire history would be brought up in a proceeding like that," she said. "We have reached out to the Attorney General's Office to essentially put it on their radar. But by their process, they don't start to do that assessment until we get closer to their release from prison."
MacLeod's first pre-trial court appearance for his bail jumping case is scheduled for the afternoon of Thursday, March 21. Barring any delays during pre-trial proceedings, his trial is scheduled to begin June 10.
He was also reminded of his right to appeal his sentence within the next 30 days but it was not determined in court whether MacLeod would pursue that.
