Man who stabbed ex-wife to death on Portage Avenue denied full parole

A convicted killer who chased and repeatedly stabbed his former wife in front of several people on a Winnipeg street in May 1994 has again been denied full parole.

Bruce Stewner, now 60, was sentenced to life with no chance of parole for 20 years for killing Kelly Lynn Stewner, 23, on Portage Avenue, near Overdale Street, in St. James.

“It is the board’s assessment that you will by re-offending, present an undue risk to society on full parole, and that your release will not contribute to the protection of society by facilitating your reintegration as a law-abiding citizen,” a two-member National Parole Board panel wrote in a Dec. 18 decision.

The panel cited concerns about Stewner’s violations of day parole conditions. He was previously denied full parole in September 2023.

Kelly Lynn Stewner had an active restraining order against her former husband, who killed her when she got out of his car and tried to escape. Stewner shouted: “You got what you deserved,” after stabbing her.

Stewner, who has remarried, is currently on day parole in B.C. with conditions. His first two day parole releases were revoked in 2013 and 2016.

He has spent more time in the community on his third day parole, which began in January 2023, the panel noted.

“While this suggests improvement, there have still been incidents of substance abuse and occasions where you have not been entirely forthcoming with your associates or your parole supervisor,” the nine-page decision said.

Since his latest day parole began, urine samples tested positive for THC, benzoylecgonine (a cocaine metabolite) and norfentanyl, the panel said.

Stewner’s release was temporarily suspended after a second norfentanyl-positive urinalysis sample in January 2024.

The panel said Stewner failed to tell his parole supervisor that he was ticketed for having overly tinted windows during a September 2025 traffic stop in which he insulted a police officer.

While minor, the incident was a breach of his general release conditions and suggests an “ongoing deceptiveness” and unwillingness to report concerning behaviours or events, the decision said.

Stewner notified his parole supervisor after police stopped him for the same reason in November.

There has been no report of violence and he has not reoffended during his current day parole, the decision noted.

The panel concluded Stewner doesn’t pose an undue risk on day parole because he lives in a halfway house, or community residential facility, with additional monitoring and supervision.

“By comparison, on a full parole and without the benefit of a CRF setting and automatic six-month reviews, there is concern that you would be more likely to engage in the non-reporting of concerning behaviours or events, and that at the same time these would be less likely to be detected,” the decision said.

The panel said Stewner has maintained a relationship and a job on day parole, and he has completed various correctional programs since he was sentenced.

He threatened an employee at a minimum-security correctional facility in November 2021.

A psychological risk assessment in 2022, now considered expired because it is more than two years old, identified potential indicators of escalating risk, including the need to control others and distorted thinking about intimate partner violence, the decision said.

His score on the Statistical Information on Recidivism scale suggested there is a two out of three chance he will not commit an indictable offence within three years of release.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca