Throw away the key that locks the door on dangerous offender Leo Teskey’s jail cell.
This 40-year-old diagnosed psychopath, with a rap sheet of 37 criminal convictions, including beating a senior into a vegetative state, is appealing his dangerous offender status.
If there ever was a violent offender who deserves to be jailed for the rest of his life, Teskey leads the class.
From beating a senior in 2000 to shooting a police officer in the head in 1988, tearing the penis of the two-year-old son of a girlfriend in 1994, Teskey has show that he should receive absolutely no compassion.
In a civilized society, we must practise forgiveness. But there are times when such an act of compassion is pointless, and even offensive.
Canadian criminal laws ultimately must represent the conscience of society and fulfil the demand for justice. Ultimately, the most critical compassion must be for the law-abiding citizens who feel threatened by people like Teskey.
On Nov. 21, 2000, Dougald Miller was walking through an apartment building he and his wife Lesley owned in Edmonton, when he came across Teskey passed out in a hallway. While being escorted out of the building by Miller, Teskey snapped.
In a violent rage, he crushed Miller’s skull, broke his nose and jaw, and left one ear partially detached. The senior, now 68, is unable to speak, stand or feed himself and remains in a near vegetative state in a nursing home with his wife at his side, communicating only through blinking.
After a second trial, Teskey was convicted of aggravated assault. And on July 23, he was declared a dangerous offender.
“In a few short seconds, he left us in a world of pain and suffering,” said Miller’s wife of 28 years. “He put us both in a prison. I have nothing but contempt for that man. I wish we had the death sentence.”
Teskey is a real prize, with nine convictions for violence on his 37-conviction rap sheet. At his dangerous offender hearing, he said he woke up to a man leaning over him and kicking him while “an angel and devil” were “offering him contradictory advice” on how to deal with the situation.
After the brutal incident, he told doctors he felt “awful” about beating someone up.
He felt so awful, he was compelled to take Miller’s keys after the beating, going into the victim’s apartment, stealing a TV and other items before driving away in Miller’s car. Later, he took the stolen goods to a pawn shop.
In a 45-page assessment, a forensic psychiatrist and a forensic psychologist said he scored 100 per cent in tests that determined his propensity to re-offend. In short, the experts concluded at his dangerous offender hearing, Teskey is a lost cause without a conscience, and for the protection of society, should spend the rest of his life in jail without mercy.
It was further concluded that there are no rehabilitative programs in prison to treat such a demented mind. Teskey shows no remorse because he believes he has done nothing wrong.
Simply put, he is a psychopath. He prides himself as being brilliant and manipulative.
That is evident in his recent decision to appeal, without a lawyer, his dangerous-offender label.
Rick Zemanek is an Advocate editor.