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Ten years after earning a life sentence for killing his severely disabled 12-year-old daughter, Robert Latimer has been granted full parole.



In a written decision that has not yet been made public, the National Parole Board agreed on Thursday to grant full parole, said his lawyer Jason Gratl.



The decision takes effect on Dec. 5, the tenth anniversary of the beginning of his sentence.



"What this means is Robert Latimer will begin to enjoy a larger measure of personal freedom," said Mr. Gratl.



On Oct. 24, 1993, Mr. Latimer wrapped his daughter Tracy in a blanket, put her in the cab of his pickup truck and filled it with exhaust fumes. His actions ignited a national debate about mercy killing and the rights of the disabled.



Mr. Latimer maintained he was motivated by love: Tracy, whose tiny body was contorted by cerebral palsy, was born a quadriplegic with brain damage. She endured multiple operations and acute pain, and the future held only more of the same.



A jury found Mr. Latimer guilty in 1997 on a charge of second-degree murder, but recommended that he serve only one year in jail and another under house arrest at his farm near Wilkie, Sask.



But the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada imposed a mandatory minimum sentence: a life sentence with no parole for 10 years, although he could apply for day parole after seven years.



When Mr. Latimer first applied for day parole three years ago, he was denied release because his "lack of insight" made him, in the judgment of the three-member parole board panel, an undue risk to reoffend.



Mr. Gratl took up Mr. Latimer's case, and the parole board's appeal division, in an unusual move, swept aside the initial ruling and ordered Mr. Latimer released on day parole.



Since then, Mr. Latimer has won a series of improvements to the terms of his parole. He has been living in a halfway house, but will now be free to live in a private home. Full parole is the least restrictive option under a life sentence, but it is not a full reprieve. He will likely still have to report to a parole officer, and the board may have imposed special conditions on him. As well, his parole could be revoked if he violates any of the conditions imposed on him.



Mr. Gratl said Mr. Latimer did not want to comment because he does not want the media attention on his transition back to a relatively normal life. "He doesn't want to call attention to his parole issues."

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