Dad convicted of killing seven-year-old Randal Dooley set to appear before parole board
Dooley, along with his wife, was convicted of second-degree murder in 2002 in the death of his son
A man convicted of killing his son in what's been called one of the worst cases of child abuse in Canadian history is expected to appear before the Parole Board of Canada today.
The hearing for Edward (Tony) Dooley is to take place at the Beaver Creek Institution, a minimum- and medium-security facility in Gravenhurst.
Dooley, along with his wife, was convicted of second-degree murder in 2002 in the death of his son, seven-year-old Randal Dooley.
Randal was born in Jamaica and came to Canada with his brother to live with his father and stepmother in Toronto in November 1997, 11 months before his death.
He had wasted to just 41 pounds and had 13 fractured ribs, a lacerated liver, four brain injuries, and head-to-toe bruises when he died in 1998.
At the couple's trial, it was found that Marcia Dooley had struck the fatal blow to Randal and had inflicted the vast majority of the prior abuse. She was given a life sentence with no chance of parole for at least 18 years.
Tony Dooley, meanwhile, was characterized by the judge as a "coward" for "ignoring Randal's plight as Marcia's whipping boy."
He received a life term with no parole for at least 13 years. The pair's three-month trial made headlines across Canada as the gruesome details of Randal's brief life came to light.
Court heard that months of abuse had left the little boy incontinent and unable to keep down food before his death. Jurors also heard that Marcia Dooley broke Randal's arm and even forced him to eat his vomit because she didn't want food going to waste.
Tony Dooley admitted to hitting his son on the buttocks with a belt to the point where he feared the Children's Aid Society would take Randal away if the boy was sent to school that fall.
Randal's teacher did in fact notice dozens of welts on his back at some point, which led the school to notify police and child welfare authorities, though no charges were laid at that time.
After Randal's death in September 1998, his father and stepmother told police that the boy had tumbled from an upper bunk bed and struck his head on the floor.
The couple appealed their conviction, but their bid for a new trial was dismissed in 2009.
In 2015, Marcia Dooley was denied escorted temporary absences from prison after the parole board found her still reluctant to accept full responsibility for her crime.