Penny Boudreau, a Nova Scotia woman who was sentenced to life in prison with no parole for 20 years for killing her daughter Karissa, has been granted four escorted leaves from prison over the next year to attend church.

In a June 28 written decision, the Parole Board of Canada said the woman must be escorted by two correctional service staff who are to remain within sight and sound of her at all times during the four-hour leaves.

Boudreau was in a troubled relationship with her boyfriend when she strangled her 12-year-old daughter to death Jan. 27, 2008, and then reported her missing. The girl's frozen body was found on the outskirts of Bridgewater, N.S., on Feb. 9, 2008.

Boudreau, who was initially charged with first-degree murder, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in January 2009.

After she began serving her sentence at the Nova Institution for Women in Truro, Boudreau was diagnosed with depression, anxiety and borderline personality traits.

Karissa Boudreau was 12 when her mother strangled her to death on Jan. 27, 2008, and left her body on a river bank outside of Bridgewater, N.S.

In her October 2017 application for escorted leaves to attend church, she told the parole board that her mother committed suicide when she was a young child and she always felt awkward in social situations.

At the time of the murder, she said she recalled feeling desperate as her partner told her to choose between him or her daughter. The court did not hear evidence about the ultimatum from any other source.

The facts of what happened the night Karissa died emerged during Boudreau's sentencing, also in January 2009.

Boudreau said she tackled her daughter, knelt on her chest and strangled her with twine.

She admitted she could feel the girl's hands digging into the ground as she struggled. Karissa's last words were, "Mommy, don't."

Penny Boudreau is shown at a news conference pleading for the return of her daughter Karissa, after she reported the girl missing in January 2008. (CBC)

Boudreau then put her daughter's body in the car and threw away the twine in a coffee cup.

She said she drove to a spot along the LaHave River, and as she dragged the body, pulled down Karissa's pants to give the impression the girl had been sexually assaulted. She then rolled the body down an embankment.

In its written decision, the parole board said things would have turned out differently if Boudreau had reached out for support.

"The board is satisfied that the contributing factors towards your criminality of personal emotional issues and marital/family problems have been correctly identified. The board believes that you were in an unhealthy relationship and when faced with the choice of maintaining the relationship or dispensing with your child, cognitive distortions allowed you to take the life of your daughter."

Police said they were suspicious from the start about the woman's story that her daughter had gone missing.

The truth of what happened to the girl came out as a result of an undercover police investigation. Boudreau gave the details to officers posing as organized crime bosses, who said they could help her destroy evidence held by police.

Boudreau is now in her mid-40s and has served 9½ years of her sentence.

She has completed a number of offender programs and has never been a security risk, the parole board said. A psychological assessment has found that she falls within a "very low range to reoffend."

Boudreau has rekindled the relationship with her father and has expressed that church has been important to her, the board said.

"You related to the board that the proposed [leaves] will help you know that you are able to be in and develop a rapport with people in a public setting. You feel that you need to be in a 'real' setting as opposed to the sheltered environment of institutional life. You want to use your time to develop supports as you hope to eventually be released to this community," the decision said.