Killer who hid ex-girlfriend’s body in grave applies for early release

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This article was published 21/10/2019 (2185 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Brandon men sentenced to life in prison after he killed his ex-girlfriend and buried her body on top of an existing grave is seeking early release under the “faint hope clause.”

In 2005, Michael Bridges, 39, was convicted of first-degree murder in the 2002 killing of 18-year-old Erin Chorney.

In a written decision earlier this month, Queen’s Bench Justice John Menzies ruled that Bridges can proceed with an application to reduce his period of parole ineligibility to 15 years from 25 years.

“On reviewing the information provided to the court as to the history of the applicant’s period in custody and the assessments of his progress in custody, I am satisfied that the applicant has shown… that there is a substantial likelihood that his application… will succeed,” Menzies said.

“Bridges has been described as an exemplary inmate. Despite the heinous nature of his crime and the devastating effects it has had on the family of the deceased, the applicant makes out a meritorious case for the reduction of parole ineligibility.”

Bridges and Chorney had been involved in a stormy, sometimes violent relationship that ended shortly before he killed her. The case remained unsolved until 2004 when Bridges was arrested by RCMP following an elaborate “Mr. Big” operation. On secretly recorded video, which was played at his trial, Bridges told undercover police how he choked Chorney until she was unconscious, then cut the cord from his mother’s hair dryer and used it to strangle her. When she didn’t die, he submerged her head in his bathtub for nearly 20 minutes.

Bridges carried Chorney’s body to a nearby cemetery, dug up a freshly covered grave and placed her body inside.

Bridges has been held in minimum security at Rockwood Institution, a part of Stony Mountain Penitentiary, since March 2014. In an affidavit filed in support of his application, Bridges outlined his rehabilitative efforts while in custody, including earning his high school diploma, job training and work experience, and substance abuse and psychological counselling. He has no disciplinary offences on his record.

“I employ the skills that I have learned through programming and counselling on a consistent basis,” Bridges said. “I purposefully and actively engage in open and honest communication with staff, other inmates, and those on the outside. These are skills that I struggled with prior to my incarceration and even in the early days of my sentence.”

Bridges said upon release he hopes to get a job, reunite with his family and reconnect with his son.

“Overall, I wish to lead a proactive life and never go back to prison,” he said.

Bridges said he thinks about Chorney “every single day” and would like to apologize directly to her family and friends for what he did.

“I have been working with corrections staff and outside resources… to put myself in the best position possible to give the family what they need to heal, should they be interested in engaging with me,” he said. “I am a different person than I was when I committed this offence and when I first came into custody.”

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca