Abbotsford (with files from Correctional Service Canada/News1130/Josh Olund BCIT Radio A&E) – AUGUST 23 UPDATE – On August 23, 2021, Terry Driver, an inmate from Mountain Institution died while in custody of apparent natural causes.
At the time of his death, Mr. Driver had been serving an indeterminate sentence for first degree murder and attempted murder since October 16, 1997.
The inmate’s next of kin have been notified of his death.
As in all cases involving the death of an inmate, Correctional Service Canada (CSC) will review the circumstances. CSC policy requires that the police and the coroner be notified.
News1130 is reporting that Driver died of Cancer and survivor Misty Cockerill was relieved that Driver was gone and she never has to worry about him ever being released from custody.
ORIGINAL STORY MAY 13, 2021 – In the mid 90’s, it was a case that gripped Abbotsford to the core and shocked the entire nation.
Terry Driver,also known as the “Abbotsford Killer”was denied both day and full parole, after the Parole Board of Canada found him at a “very high risk for violent and sexual re-offending.”The decision made against Terry Driver was made on April 19. Documents on the matter were released Wednesday (May 12).
Driver’s initial 25 years of incarceration prompted the automatic parole review.
Driver, 56, is currently serving a life sentence after being convicted in 1997 of the brutal killing of 16 year old Tanya Smith, and the attempted murder of her friend, 15 year old Misty Cockerill, in October 1995. Both were bludgeoned with a baseball bat.
Driver, who was married with kids at the time, contacted the police and was taunting them,indicating he was the killer and revealing evidence that wasn’t publicly released. The calls were made from payphones.Driver was identified as a suspect in 1996 when police released an audio recording of a call he made with them.
The taunting went further to the point of grotesque ( as if the attacks were not bad enough).
Driver had removed Smith’s headstone from the cemetery where she was buried and placed it on a vehicle outside of Abbotsford Radio Station Radio Max (Now Country 107). Words written on the headstone included “She was not the first” and “She won’t be the last.”
Radio Max reporter Christina Stevens was the person who found the headstone on the news cruiser. FVN has reached out to Stevens for comment.
Then News Director Robert Linden told FVN: The half hour documentary on the Abbotsford Killer is now showing on Amazon Prime apparently. And where is Elly Sawchuk now?
Don Lehn, now News Director for both FVN and chillTV, was the morning news anchor at Radio Max when the trial completed: I was still in Ottawa (1995) when the attacks happened and I could not believe that something so vile could happen in “lil ol Abbotsford. I came to home to the Valley in 1996 and started at Radio Max in 1997. I remember then, people describing Driver as “creepy and slimy” and I’m seeing those same comments on social media today as this announcement went public.
Published documents reveal a February 2021 psychological assessment determined that Driver is a “very high risk for violent and sexual recidivism. However, there is not word on where Driver is spending his life sentence.
