ELLSBURY, Damoign -- One of Damoign's most notorious murderers was released from prison today by the state's parole board.
Dennis Edward Murphy was released from the Farris Creek Correctional Center southeast of Grassadellia City Tuesday afternoon.
Murphy, age 78, was granted a medical release due to terminal cancer.
He will live with his nephew at an undisclosed location in the state, according to the Damoign Department of Corrections.
Murphy was convicted in 1977 of killing five prostitutes in east Grassadellia City over a two-year period.
The killings were particularly violent. Two of his victims were strangled, two were stabbed, and one shot.
All five victims' bodies were mutilated after death.
While Murphy did take money and belongings of the victims, police do not believe robbery was a motive. The murders were deemed to be thrill-killings.
Police at the time said Murphy may have additional unknown victims.
Murphy was convicted of all five murders and originally sentenced to death, but in 1998, a state judge overturned the death sentence on procedural technicalities during Murphy's trial. He was then issued a life prison term.
Murphy's attorneys say their client has dementia and has only months to live after being diagnosed with lung cancer. He requires 24-hour care and cannot live alone, they say.
As part of the conditions of his release, Murphy will not be allowed to leave the state of Damoign. He must check in weekly with a parole officer. He cannot live close to schools, libraries, public parks or day care centers.
His family celebrated his release, thanking the parole board for allowing Murphy to live out his final days in the company and care of loved ones.
But his release spurred intense anger from the victims' families and from Conservative and Nationalist politicians alike.
"My mom didn't get to live out her final days in the company of family. She lived her final moments chained to a bed tortured to death by this monster," said Sarah Goos, whose mother Emily Daughten was Murphy's second victim.
Tough-on-crime politicians also lambasted the parole board's decision.
"It's unfathomable that a serial killer, who not only murdered innocent women but tortured and mutilated their bodies, could be released on compassionate grounds," said state Senator Joe Bruno, a Conservative from Tolston.
"What does it say to the victims' families and to the people of our state when an unelected board releases violent criminals back into the community? Where is the justice for the victims?" state Sen. Steve Ralman, Conservative from east Kentwick, said in a radio interview Tuesday night.
Nationalist state Senator Hank Colland, who represents Evanter, was also dismayed.
"I understand that we want to be compassionate to ailing incarcerants, and we have compassion for those who are suffering from debilitating diseases, but that has to be weighed against the gravity of the crimes the person committed," he told the STAR Network's Joe Candolla.
"I think in this case, this individual, while he may be very ill and may not have much time left to live, he really should not be released. He may not be much of a threat to the community in his current state, being very ill. But it's the principle of it. The victims' families deserve justice. They were told this man would be in prison for life and now that promise has been broken, and the pain of those crimes comes flooding back.
Governor Jenna Duvan (N) has not commented on Murphy's release. Her office declined to comment, though a spokesperson said Duvan would speak on the matter later this week.
Duvan is a former prosecutor who sent many convicted criminals to death row. She remains supportive of the death penalty in extreme cases, however, under her administration, executions have slowed.
Conservative politicians jumped all over the issue on social media Tuesday, saying the decision to release Murphy proves Duvan, who is seeking re-election in December, is soft on crime.
"This is sadly what the Nationalist Party has become today. Nationalist politicians like Jenna Duvan give more rights to convicted serial killers than they do to the hard-working citizens and taxpayers of our state," the Damoign Conservative Party said in a post on Facebook.
Dennis Edward Murphy was released from the Farris Creek Correctional Center southeast of Grassadellia City Tuesday afternoon.
Murphy, age 78, was granted a medical release due to terminal cancer.
He will live with his nephew at an undisclosed location in the state, according to the Damoign Department of Corrections.
Murphy was convicted in 1977 of killing five prostitutes in east Grassadellia City over a two-year period.
The killings were particularly violent. Two of his victims were strangled, two were stabbed, and one shot.
All five victims' bodies were mutilated after death.
While Murphy did take money and belongings of the victims, police do not believe robbery was a motive. The murders were deemed to be thrill-killings.
Police at the time said Murphy may have additional unknown victims.
Murphy was convicted of all five murders and originally sentenced to death, but in 1998, a state judge overturned the death sentence on procedural technicalities during Murphy's trial. He was then issued a life prison term.
Murphy's attorneys say their client has dementia and has only months to live after being diagnosed with lung cancer. He requires 24-hour care and cannot live alone, they say.
As part of the conditions of his release, Murphy will not be allowed to leave the state of Damoign. He must check in weekly with a parole officer. He cannot live close to schools, libraries, public parks or day care centers.
His family celebrated his release, thanking the parole board for allowing Murphy to live out his final days in the company and care of loved ones.
But his release spurred intense anger from the victims' families and from Conservative and Nationalist politicians alike.
"My mom didn't get to live out her final days in the company of family. She lived her final moments chained to a bed tortured to death by this monster," said Sarah Goos, whose mother Emily Daughten was Murphy's second victim.
Tough-on-crime politicians also lambasted the parole board's decision.
"It's unfathomable that a serial killer, who not only murdered innocent women but tortured and mutilated their bodies, could be released on compassionate grounds," said state Senator Joe Bruno, a Conservative from Tolston.
"What does it say to the victims' families and to the people of our state when an unelected board releases violent criminals back into the community? Where is the justice for the victims?" state Sen. Steve Ralman, Conservative from east Kentwick, said in a radio interview Tuesday night.
Nationalist state Senator Hank Colland, who represents Evanter, was also dismayed.
"I understand that we want to be compassionate to ailing incarcerants, and we have compassion for those who are suffering from debilitating diseases, but that has to be weighed against the gravity of the crimes the person committed," he told the STAR Network's Joe Candolla.
"I think in this case, this individual, while he may be very ill and may not have much time left to live, he really should not be released. He may not be much of a threat to the community in his current state, being very ill. But it's the principle of it. The victims' families deserve justice. They were told this man would be in prison for life and now that promise has been broken, and the pain of those crimes comes flooding back.
Governor Jenna Duvan (N) has not commented on Murphy's release. Her office declined to comment, though a spokesperson said Duvan would speak on the matter later this week.
Duvan is a former prosecutor who sent many convicted criminals to death row. She remains supportive of the death penalty in extreme cases, however, under her administration, executions have slowed.
Conservative politicians jumped all over the issue on social media Tuesday, saying the decision to release Murphy proves Duvan, who is seeking re-election in December, is soft on crime.
"This is sadly what the Nationalist Party has become today. Nationalist politicians like Jenna Duvan give more rights to convicted serial killers than they do to the hard-working citizens and taxpayers of our state," the Damoign Conservative Party said in a post on Facebook.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment