No prison absences for man who kidnapped, killed five-year-old Alberta girl
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Digital Subscription
One year of digital access for only $205*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
CALGARY – A man who kidnapped and killed a five-year-old girl in southern Alberta told a parole hearing Thursday that he was worried about being exposed as a pedophile and smothered the child in a state of panic.
Anthony Gallup, appearing by video from a minimum security prison in B.C., made his first request for freedom since he was convicted of first-degree murder for killing Jessica Koopmans in 2001.
A first-degree murder conviction carries an automatic life sentence and offenders can’t apply for full parole for 25 years.
The 66-year-old wanted unescorted temporary absences to attend a workshop in Kamloops, B.C., aimed at helping individuals suffering from childhood trauma.
The Parole Board of Canada denied the request.
It said Gallup isn’t ready for any additional freedoms and releasing him would be premature.
Jessica was taken from her Lethbridge home on May 4, 2001. A week later, her naked body was found under a pile of brush near the town of Fort Macleod.
Gallup, who had dated a friend of the girl’s mother, was arrested. He didn’t testify at his trial.
Gallup told the parole board that he took the girl to buy her candy and became aroused. She started to cry.
“It was panic and shame because I didn’t want to be exposed. I didn’t want her to say that something had happened, when nothing had actually happened. I didn’t actually act on any kind of deviant impulse,” Gallup told the board.
He said he will carry the terrible crime with him forever.
“I wish like hell I could trade places with Jessica and be the one that is dead, but I can’t. I can’t go back,” Gallup said.
“I don’t have any explanations that would satisfy anybody. I am not the same person that I was 25 years ago.”
Jessica’s mother appeared at the hearing via video link and described Gallup as a master manipulator.
“Life in prison is 25 years,” Sylvia Bouw told the board. “(Jessica) does not get a second chance.
“The possibility of this man’s release reopens wounds that never truly healed and brings back the fear, the pain and the reality of what was taken from us.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 27, 2026.