'Rolex Killer' denied day parole from Greater Victoria prison
Albert Johnson Walker, whose crimes have inspired books, podcasts and a made-for-TV movie, is serving a life sentence for first-degree murder, fraud and theft
A conman dubbed the “Rolex Killer,” who was at one time the most wanted man in Canada, has been denied day parole from a Greater Victoria prison.
Albert Johnson Walker, whose crimes have inspired books, podcasts, a made-for-TV movie and a storyline on the British soap opera Coronation Street, is serving a life sentence for first-degree murder, fraud and theft.
Victims, who are regularly updated by the Correctional Service of Canada when Walker is outside the prison, told the Times Colonist he is being held in William Head Institution in Metchosin and has attended a Greater Victoria church with an escort.
They say they’re concerned he could dupe fellow church members and did not want to be named out of fear for their safety.
The 78-year-old has been held in the same minimum-security institution since 2017. He was granted a 60-day unescorted absence last year to participate in a program on the Island, according to the recent parole board decision denying Walker day parole.
While his case-management team had recommended that Walker be granted day parole, the Parole Board of Canada found he continues to pose a risk to the community based on his ongoing misrepresentation of and denial of culpability for his crimes.
Walker’s crimes date to the 1980s, when he bilked friends, acquaintances and clients of his financial services firm in Ontario of more than $2.6 million before fleeing to the United Kingdom with one of his children in 1990, the decision says.
In the U.K., Walker befriended a man named Ronald Platt and assumed his identity when Platt moved to Canada. When Platt returned to the U.K. in 1996, Walker took him on a boat trip to kill him, the decision says. He bought an anchor, attached it to Platt’s body and threw him overboard, it says.
The man’s body was discovered when a fishing boat dredged it up in a net.
Platt was eventually identified by the Rolex he was wearing at the time of his death, resulting in Walker’s nickname the “Rolex Killer.”
Walker continues to deny committing fraud and claims he was engaged in legitimate business ventures that didn’t work out, the parole decision says. Walker claims that Platt allowed him to take his identity and that Platt attacked him and fell overboard in a struggle.
Despite his case-management team’s support for Walker’s day parole, the parole board said his access to potential victims will be too difficult to monitor.
“Given your refusal to be accountable and address your risk issues in a responsible way, the board believes that your risk is not manageable on this type of release,” the board wrote.
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