Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Missouri: Parole for Mo. killers who say they were abused by their husbands

Next month, Missouri is going to release two women who were convicted of murder, but who say they were abused by their husbands. A third woman will be released in 2013. The state passed a law in 2007 to allow parole for abused women who got long prison sentences. (And by lengthy, they mean they wouldn't have been eligible for parole until serving at least 50 years.)

In 2008 and 2009, though, the parole board had previously rejected the women's requests for release.

From the AP:
(Carlene) Borden, who married at age 14, was convicted in 1978 of killing her husband, Delbert, as he sat in a chair in their Springfield, Mo., home. Authorities said she conspired with her lover in the shooting, but her attorneys claimed at trial that she was often beaten, suffering a broken nose.

(Vicky) Williams' husband, Gilbert, was shot to death in a murder-for-hire case in 1979 while on duty as a security guard in the St. Louis County town of Chesterfield. Prosecutors said Williams worried she would lose her children in a custody dispute.

The prosecutors dispute whether there was any evidence of spousal abuse. The P-D has more here.

Photo: Borden, left; Williams, right.

Posted by James Hart on Tuesday, September 14, 2010 at 06:00 AM | Permalink

No comments: