A Tsawwassen family is once again preparing to head to Alberta in an attempt to ensure the man convicted of murdering six members of their family stays behind bars.
Shelley Boden and several members of her family will be traveling to Bowden, Alberta, just south of Red Deer, for another parole hearing for David Ennis.
Ennis, who was known as David Shearing at the time of the murders but has since changed his name, has been behind bars since the early 1980s after admitting to killing the family, which was on a camping trip in Wells Gray Park in August 1982.
He pleaded guilty almost two years after the slayings and was sentenced to life in prison for 25 years.
Ennis stalked the family before shooting Boden's aunt and uncle, Bob and Jackie Johnson, and Jackie Johnson's parents, George and Edith Bentley. He kept the Johnsons' two daughters, Janet, 13, and Karen, 11, alive for several days and sexually assaulted the two girls before killing them as well.
He then put all six bodies in the family's car and set it on fire on a remote logging road.
This is the third time Boden and her family have made the trek to Alberta in an effort to ensure Ennis is never released.
He was first denied parole in 2008 and again in 2012. This time he has applied for day parole.
"The more that we go shows we care that he doesn't get out," Boden said, adding many family members will read victim impact statements.
Boden said she's upset the family has to attend another hearing just two years after the last one, adding it forces members to relive the nightmare of the murders.
"We don't want him out," she said. "This time I'm pissed off."
The parole hearing isn't until Sept. 4, but the family has started an online petition in the fight to keep Ennis in prison.
The petition, which has more than 8,700 signatures, is available by searching David Ennis at www.change.org. The petition must be signed by June 15.
Boden said the family is also urging people to write letters to the parole board. Letters, which must be received by July 1, can be sent to: Parole Board of Canada, Prairies Region, Scotia Place, Scotia 2, Suite 401, 10060 Jasper Avenue, NW, Edmonton, Alberta, T5J 3R8
