Ronald Smith, 59, a\u00a0Canadian on death row in Montana, has admitted he murdered two young men more than 30 years\u00a0ago, but with the support of Justin Trudeau\u2019s government, he says he has renewed hope he might be able to return home . \u00a0\u201cI\u2019m ready to come home,\u201d he said \u00a0in an interview, \u201cIf you\u2019re willing to take me back, I\u2019m willing to come home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Smith is getting hope from a statement Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion made\u00a0following a meeting with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: \u00a0\u201cIf the government of Canada does not ask for clemency for every Canadian facing the death penalty, how can we be credible when we ask for clemency in selective cases or countries? \u00a0We must end this incoherent double standard. Canada opposes the death penalty and will ask for clemency in each and every case, no exceptions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Smith has been on death row since 1983 for shooting Harvey Madman Jr. and Thomas Running Rabbit while he was high on LSD and alcohol in Montana.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m considerably more optimistic,\u201d Smith said. \u201cI\u2019m considerably more positive about the Canadian government becoming involved at least, and with their involvement I think it bodes well for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
When he was first charged, Smith\u00a0refused a plea deal that would have seen him get a life sentence and instead asked for the death penalty. \u00a0Smith later thought differently.\u00a0\u00a0He said the \u00a0reason he changed his mind about accepting his death sentence was because of his daughter, who he reconnected with some\u00a0ten\u00a0years ago. \u00a0An execution date has been set five times and five times the order was overturned.<\/p>\n
While Smith\u2019s family wants\u00a0to see him spared, the family members of his victims have lobbied for his death. \u00a0\u201cThe decisions he made he has to pay for.\u00a0He had no mercy for my father, a person I have never met.” \u00a0Running Rabbit\u2019s son said at\u00a0Smith\u2019s clemency hearing.<\/p>\n
Smith, considered a model prisoner, said he understands the anger of the family members of his two victims. \u00a0But he said he has grown up since he committed his crimes. \u00a0Smith said: \u201cI think that\u2019s what so many people don\u2019t understand, is separating the crime from the person. \u00a0It was a drunken aberration is what it was and I think some people finally have started to realize that. It\u2019s not who I was.\u00a0I was drunk and stupid and committed a heinous crime during that time.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"