Murder Category: Domestic Violence
Sub-Category: Family Annihilator
Victims: Christopher, 12, and Jennifer, 10, his children
Relationship to Victims: Father
Date of Murder: August 13, 1998
Murder Method: Drowning
Conviction: Pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder
Sentence: Life, spent 19 years in prison, release on full parole in 2019

Thomas Dewald murdered his children Christopher, 12, and Jennifer, 10, by holding their heads underwater in Lake Erie on August 13, 1998, while visiting their grandfather’s Wheatley-area home. He pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder and received a life sentence in March 1999.

Dewald’s motive was an obsession with his ex-girlfriend, who he confessed the murders to because he “loved her more than anything in the world” and felt his children stood in his way of his relationship with her. At the time, Dewald was under financial stress and had lost his wife six years earlier.

Dewald was granted day parole in September 2018 and full parole September 25, 2019.

The parole board’s decision noted that Dewald had “sufficiently demonstrated positive performance on conditional release. You have successfully met all supervision requirements without issue. At length, the board finds itself in agreement with the (Correctional Service of Canada’s) assessment and concurs with their recommendation for full parole grant.”

His parole conditions include:

• Immediately reporting all intimate sexual and non-sexual relationships and friendships with women, or any attempts
• Provide documented financial information on a regular schedule
• Receive psychological counselling

At the time of full parole, Dewald, 56, received an inheritance that allowed him to buy a home and new car.