A convicted killer who escaped jail and was recaptured after going on a bank-robbery spree has been granted a small step of freedom.

The Parole Board of Canada says George Vincent Gyuricza has earned unescorted temporary absences to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings to “develop a pro-social support network,” the board wrote in its Oct. 17 decision.

Gyuricza, 45, is serving a life sentence for killing 96-year-old Margaret Machon with his bare hands on Oct. 10, 1986.

He was high and intoxicated when he sneaked into the elderly widow’s second-storey downtown Calgary suite through an open balcony door and stole $60. He choked her and stabbed her twice in the throat with the handle of her hairbrush. Continue reading →