The man who killed a Toronto police officer in a botched robbery at a Queen Street tavern 46 years ago has been arrested in B.C. while out on parole.
Craig Munro was serving a life sentence at a B.C. prison after Const. Michael Sweet was fatally shot on March 14, 1980.
Sweet and his partner were on patrol that night when they responded to a robbery in progress at what was then George’s Bourbon Street Restaurant and Italian Café near Spadina Avenue.
The 30-year-old constable was shot and being held hostage by Munro and his brother, James. Despite pleading for his life, the brothers refused to let him leave to receive medical treatment, according to an in memoriam posted to the Toronto police website.
Heavily armed police stormed the restaurant 90 minutes later and attempted to rescue Sweet. He died in hospital hours later.
Munro was found guilty of first-degree murder without the eligibility of parole for 25 years in 1981. His brother was convicted of second-degree murder without parole eligibility for 12 years.
Munro was granted day parole in 2024 after the Parole Board of Canada found the then 72-year-old had made “significant gains” over the course of his sentence and did not “present an undue risk to society” if released.
He was residing at a community residential facility on Vancouver Island when he was released. He was not permitted to travel to, or be in, Surrey, or Richmond B.C. or Ontario without the permission of his parole supervisor.
In a statement to CTV News, a spokesperson for the Victoria Police Department confirmed that Munro was arrested in the provincial capital.
“His parole has since been revoked by the Parole Board of Canada, and he remains in custody.”
It was not immediately clear what Munro was arrested for.
The Correctional Service of Canada told CTV News in and email that while it could not comment on the specifics of Munro’s arrest, they confirmed that he is is currently in their custody and that “appropriate measures have been taken regarding this offender.”
‘This incident was predictable’: Toronto Police Association
The Toronto Police Association reacted to the news of Munro’s arrest saying that “this incident was predictable.”
“It could have been entirely preventable if the correct reforms from the federal government were implemented sooner. We need these changes now,” they said in a post to X, referring to their calls to extend the parole ineligibility for those convicted of first-degree murder from 25 to 35 years.
The union had revived those calls on Thursday after parole was denied for Clinton Gayle, who shot and killed Toronto Police Const. Todd Baylis in 1994.
“While our attention was focused on the outcome of Clinton Gayle’s parole hearing, another cop killer proved exactly why we don’t let these offenders out on parole,” the TPA said.
CTV News Toronto has reached out to the Correctional Service of Canada for more information about Munro’s arrest, but has not received a response.
With files from The Canadian Press and Bryann Aguilar
