ihadcabinfever
New Member
- Joined
- Aug 6, 2005
- Messages
- 876
- Reaction score
- 67
http://www.dailyrecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070715/COMMUNITIES03/707140364/1203/NEWS01
After confusion, state indicates Megan's Law likely applies to killer
BY ABBOTT KOLOFF
DAILY RECORD
Sunday, July 15, 2007
3 Comments Donald Paul Weber showed up at Frances Ludlow's Bernardsville home during a power outage caused by an ice storm. He later told authorities he had been drinking and taking drugs. He tried to rape Ludlow, 80, breaking her ribs, and then killed her by slitting her throat with a kitchen knife.
Almost 30 years later, the state parole board ruled Weber is ready to get out of prison.
This past week, state officials took a closer look at the case following inquiries by the Daily Record.
State parole board officials said they would vote this week on whether to hold another parole hearing after Somerset County prosecutors complained that they hadn't been given a chance to oppose Weber's parole. And state prison officials, after initially saying Weber is not required to register with local authorities under Megan's Law, said it now appears that he is.
State computer records failed to show Weber as a sex offender, they said, because the attempted rape conviction was merged with the murder conviction.
"There was some confusion, obviously, because of the merging," said Deirdre Fedkenheuer, a spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections.
She said the state corrected those computer records after the Daily Record asked about Weber's convictions -- adding that a review of paper documents conducted a week before any inmate's release would have revealed the error.
Weber, 49, was sentenced in 1980 to life in prison and was denied parole six times over the past 15 years. Following a 2003 parole hearing, board members told Weber in a 2004 notice of decision that "it is substantially likely that you would commit a crime if released on parole." They said his expressions of remorse were "perfunctory utterances that show little, if any, insight toward true victim empathy."
Three years later, after voting 9-0 to grant parole, they told Weber he would be released from Northern State Prison to a halfway house in Newark as early as Aug. 9. He would be eligible to be released from the halfway house after 180 days, authorities said, and his plans are to move in with relatives after that. Authorities would not disclose the location or identity of the relatives.
Confusion about notice
Peter DeMarco, Somerset County's first assistant prosecutor, said last week that his office didn't have a chance to oppose Weber's parole this time, as it had in the past, because it wasn't notified about a hearing. He said prosecutors sent a letter on Wednesday to oppose parole -- months after it had been granted.
Parole board officials said information about the hearing, held last year, was available on a Web site that prosecutors are expected to check. They also said they sent a letter -- a copy is in Weber's parole board file -- to the prosecutor's office in May to say parole had been granted.
"The Somerset County Prosecutor's Office has had more than a year to provide input about Mr. Weber's parole eligibility, but has not done so until today," Peter J. Barnes Jr., the Parole Board chairman, said in a letter sent to prosecutors on Wednesday.
He went on to say a letter sent by prosecutors last week would be considered and parole board members would decide whether to reaffirm the parole or to hold a new hearing. They are expected to make that decision at a regularly scheduled parole board hearing this week. "That's outrageous," said Jean Barrett, an attorney who represents Weber. "There's nothing that's changed about him and about his worthiness for parole."
Click the link.
There is a link in the cold case section about this.
After confusion, state indicates Megan's Law likely applies to killer
BY ABBOTT KOLOFF
DAILY RECORD
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Almost 30 years later, the state parole board ruled Weber is ready to get out of prison.
This past week, state officials took a closer look at the case following inquiries by the Daily Record.
State parole board officials said they would vote this week on whether to hold another parole hearing after Somerset County prosecutors complained that they hadn't been given a chance to oppose Weber's parole. And state prison officials, after initially saying Weber is not required to register with local authorities under Megan's Law, said it now appears that he is.
State computer records failed to show Weber as a sex offender, they said, because the attempted rape conviction was merged with the murder conviction.
"There was some confusion, obviously, because of the merging," said Deirdre Fedkenheuer, a spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections.
She said the state corrected those computer records after the Daily Record asked about Weber's convictions -- adding that a review of paper documents conducted a week before any inmate's release would have revealed the error.
Weber, 49, was sentenced in 1980 to life in prison and was denied parole six times over the past 15 years. Following a 2003 parole hearing, board members told Weber in a 2004 notice of decision that "it is substantially likely that you would commit a crime if released on parole." They said his expressions of remorse were "perfunctory utterances that show little, if any, insight toward true victim empathy."
Three years later, after voting 9-0 to grant parole, they told Weber he would be released from Northern State Prison to a halfway house in Newark as early as Aug. 9. He would be eligible to be released from the halfway house after 180 days, authorities said, and his plans are to move in with relatives after that. Authorities would not disclose the location or identity of the relatives.
Confusion about notice
Peter DeMarco, Somerset County's first assistant prosecutor, said last week that his office didn't have a chance to oppose Weber's parole this time, as it had in the past, because it wasn't notified about a hearing. He said prosecutors sent a letter on Wednesday to oppose parole -- months after it had been granted.
Parole board officials said information about the hearing, held last year, was available on a Web site that prosecutors are expected to check. They also said they sent a letter -- a copy is in Weber's parole board file -- to the prosecutor's office in May to say parole had been granted.
"The Somerset County Prosecutor's Office has had more than a year to provide input about Mr. Weber's parole eligibility, but has not done so until today," Peter J. Barnes Jr., the Parole Board chairman, said in a letter sent to prosecutors on Wednesday.
He went on to say a letter sent by prosecutors last week would be considered and parole board members would decide whether to reaffirm the parole or to hold a new hearing. They are expected to make that decision at a regularly scheduled parole board hearing this week. "That's outrageous," said Jean Barrett, an attorney who represents Weber. "There's nothing that's changed about him and about his worthiness for parole."
Click the link.
There is a link in the cold case section about this.
That is the stupidest excuse and I can't stand reading it.