His family had been hoping to reunite with Johnny Kroitoru in May of this year when he was supposed to be allowed to return to B.C. from an Ontario halfway house.
But the strongman serving a sentence for conspiracy to commit murder died Tuesday afternoon, likely of natural causes.
He had claimed he wanted to start fresh and stay on the straight and narrow. Now he won’t get that chance.
Former UN associate dies in halfway house months before reuniting with family
He was also a devoted family man on the verge of being reunited with his wife and kids after years in prison.
But now that family is planning his funeral instead of a homecoming party.
Kroitoru died Tuesday in the Toronto halfway house where he had been living since his release from an Abbotsford prison in September.
His wife, Tracy, said she can’t stop crying since learning of his death.
“All he wanted was to change his life and be a better man and father,” she told Postmedia on Wednesday. “I know he made some horrible decisions in his life, but he paid for that big-time. He was a good man to those that knew and loved him.”
“He was so excited to be with his seven-year-old daughter Tia. He spoke to her on the phone everyday. This is heart wrenching,” Tracy said.
She still doesn’t know the official cause of death, but suspects it was a heart failure.
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Johnny ‘K-9’ Kroitoru and wife Tracy.
Correctional Service Canada’s Ontario spokesman Kyle Lawlor said both the police and coroner will be investigating.
“Mr. Kroitoru passed yesterday afternoon at the Keele Community Correctional Centre. As in all cases where an individual dies while in custody, the police and coroner are called in to investigate. The coroner will provide their report to the Coroner’s Office, who will determine if their office will put forth an inquest into the death of an offender,” he said.
“CSC reviews the circumstances surrounding these incidents and take whatever action as required. We take the death of an inmate very seriously. The loss of a life is a tragedy at any time.”
Tracy Kroitoru said the CSC wanted her husband moved to Ontario after he was granted day parole. That kept him further from her and the kids, who live in Metro Vancouver.
He was supposed to be moved back to B.C. in May, she said.
“We have been waiting here for his return home,” she said.
Kroitoru, 53, was known for his sense of humour. Even some in law enforcement got along with him.
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John Kroitoru (left) meets UN founder Clay Roueche
But he also had a 20-year criminal history even before he was charged in the B.C. murder conspiracy, as the Parole Board of Canada highlighted last summer.
“Your file clearly documents the history of assault, extortion and drugs. File information notes that you have worked as an enforcer and debt collector for an organized crime family and that you were the subject of a criminal investigation in a double homicide. Charges were withdrawn in that case. You were also the president of a notorious motorcycle gang,” the board said in an August ruling.
“Your file reveals a man that engaged in a criminal lifestyle for over 20 years, associating with like-minded individuals that possessed entrenched criminal attitudes and pose a very real risk to public safety.”
The board also noted that Kroitoru had completed programs to aid his reintegration.
“To your credit, the board notes that you have a stated desire to change and that family is important and that you will not return to criminal activity.”
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