Triple Moncton RCMP killer Justin Bourque might get out of jail

New Brunswick's highest court says it had no choice but to reduce the sentence of Justin Bourque, a man who used a semi-automatic rifle to murder three Mounties in cold blood in Moncton in 2014. Bourque's parole ineligibility period is now 25 years, down from the 75 years imposed by a lower court judge. The ruling was based on a Supreme Court of Canada decision involving Quebec City mosque shooter Alexandre Bissonnette. It struck down a 2011 federal law that allowed judges to extend parole ineligibility.

The killer, 24 at the time of the murders, might be able to apply for parole when he is 49.

The Supreme Court decided that consecutive sentences violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms because they amounted to cruel and unusual punishment for offenders who faced no realistic possibility of being granted parole before they died.