Beyond Redeption takes the reader through the act of murder as recalled by Allan Hurd, as well as the arrest, court appearances, trial and conviction of Bender and Lucas. John D. Montgomery describes in graphic detail their demeanour from the time of their arrest through their entire trial. Montgomery follows their lives in prison, including a hostage taking incident participated in by Lucas and other, resulting in the unfortunate death of one of the hostages. Beyond Redeption is equally if not more critical of that piece of legislation and the procedures that are followed that permit a convicted inmate to apply to the court for a hearing by a jury where he must only convince two-thirds of them on a balance of probabilities that his eligibility time for parole should be reduced. At such a hearing, affidavits, statements and reports referring to the inmate’s life and behaviour in the penitentiary are presented to the jury by the applicant inmate. It is this legislation, as well as the politicians who fashion and support it, that Montgomery is highly critical of. He contends that it is this legislation that permitted Lucas on February 26, 1990, to proceed with such an application, following which the jury recommended that Lucas’ parole eligibility time be reduced from 20 years to ‘forthwith’.
About the Author
John D. (Jack) Montgomery, Q.C. was a former Chief Prosecutor for the City of Winnipeg; Provincial Director of Criminal Prosecutions; and a General Counsel in Manitoba’s Department of Justice. His three books cover major criminal trials that he prosecuted: She Was Only Three: The Trials of John Thomas James Jr. (1998) and Trials & Errors: The People vs Brian Gordon Jack (2001), and Beyond Redemption: The People vs Lucas and Bender (2004). John D. Montgomery died in 2004.
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