Charlie Baker commutes convictions of two first-degree murderers
Gov. Charlie Baker has commuted the first-degree murder convictions of Thomas Koonce and William Allen, making them immediately eligible for parole.
“I believe both men, having taken responsibility for their actions and paid their debt to the commonwealth by serving sentences longer than most individuals found guilty of similar actions, deserve the right to seek parole from prison,” Baker said, announcing the decision to reduce their convictions to second-degree murder, which he “spent months carefully weighing.”
The state Parole Board recently recommended commutations for both Koonce and Allen. Both are from Brockton.
“I want to thank Governor Baker, the Advisory Board of Pardons and everyone for believing in me,” Allen said upon hearing the news. “I promise I will never let you down.”
Allen, 48, has served 27 years in prison for his role in the 1994 murder of Purvis Bester. He was convicted in 1997 of first-degree murder for participating in a robbery during which a second person fatally stabbed Bester after the two broke into Bester’s Brockton apartment.
New England Patriots Captain Devin McCourty, a leader with Second Chance Justice and who has advocated for Allen’s release, said, “This accomplishment is the greatest team victory I’ve ever been a part of.”
Koonce, a 54-year-old former United States Marine, has served 30 years in prison for the murder of Mark Santos. Koonce was convicted in 1992 and sentenced to serve life in prison without the possibility of parole after he fired out of the window of a car in 1987 during an altercation in New Bedford, fatally wounding Santos.
Both men participated in restorative justice programs and furthered their educations through bachelor’s or vocational programs.
“The ability to grant clemency and reduce sentences through commutation is provided for in our state Constitution, but Massachusetts governors have commuted only one sentence since 1997 until today,” said Janine Carreiro-Young, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Communities Action Network.
from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3qvjEaR
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