FAIR OR RECKLESS? TEEN MURDERER GETS PAROLE

[HairOfTheDog]

What do you think?

Jeffrey Dingham was convicted of the second-degree murder of his parents and got 30 years to life, with a 12 year minimum sentence (special arrangement under his plea deal).

He has spent seventeen years in jail and will be paroled in February.

14-year-old Jeffrey Dingham in 1997 - sentenced to 30+ years with possibility for parole


31-year-old Jeffrey Dingham today - preparing to be paroled in Feb 2014

His sentence was based on a plea deal requiring that he testify against his then 17 year-old-brother, Robert, who was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.


17-year-old Robert Dingham in 1997 - sentenced to life without parole

By all accounts, Jeffrey is the one who first shot both his mother and his father, inside the New Hampshire family home, with a .22 caliber pistol. He said that his older brother then shot them again asking his father if "he wanted another" and saying "die bitch" to his mom as she tried to crawl away. That's Jeffrey's account, anyway.

His brother Robert contends that Jeffrey was the killer. As far as I'm concerned, they're equally culpable. They executed their parents because they resented the rules and curfews in the home.

I'm not one who supports the death penalty for all violent crimes or thinks that all violent juvenile offenders should be locked away for life. Case by case, depending on circumstances, IMO.

Jeffrey is close to meeting all of the parole requirements. He has the support of his aunt and uncle who say that they forgive him and have advocated for his parole. If they were petitioning to keep him inside, I don't think he'd be getting out.

Ref:
http://www.unionleader.com/article/20131.../131209654

Is this the right thing, giving a "rehabilitated" juvenile offender a second chance? Or, is it a naive/reckless decision by the parole board and Jeffrey's supporters?

[Midwest Spy]

After reading about the murders, I tend to believe the younger brothers' version of the events.

However, does that mean he should be paroled? I'm not so sure. Those were brutal murders.

I tend to think he's got a very good chance of committing a violent crime after he's out. He clearly will have a tough time integrating into society, and people that discover just who he is, will most likely not want to associate with him.

Unless the aunt and uncle are going to house him permanently I don't see how this has a happy ending.

Hope I'm wrong.

[Duchess]

I agree that they are equally culpable. Life is filled with choices & they made the choice to kill their parents. They were both at an age where one understands right from wrong and that death is forever. I don't think he's deserving of his freedom but I say that without knowing anything at all about this case other than they murdered their Mom & Dad.

[HairOfTheDog]

I say that without knowing anything at all about this case other than they murdered their Mom & Dad.

The only two people who really know more than that are Jeffrey Dingham and Robert Dingham. It's just one's word over the other.

Hard to believe that a 14-year-old could be the mastermind behind a plot to murder his parents. Still tough, but a little easier to believe that a 17-year-old could be behind it. So, give the 14-year-old a very sweet deal to help ensure the older teen goes away and never gets out.

Of course, seventeen years later, we're painfully aware through exposure to other cases that 12, 13, 14, 15...year old kids plot and sometimes succeed in murdering family members, without being manipulated by older minds to do so.

I don't know what really happened in that house, but it's uncontested that Jeffrey Dingham was first to shoot his parents. Whether he was the sole shooter depends on whether you believe Jeffrey or Robert.

Here's a little more about the crime and the case; from the NY Times just after the verdicts:

Snip:
The parents' bodies were found wrapped in plastic garbage bags in their home three days after they were killed. Both had been shot several times. (Prosecutors claimed that the boys shot them because they wanted more money from their parents and opposed the rules of the home.)

State prosecutors told the jury that Robert Dingman had persuaded his younger brother to help him steal their father's .22-caliber pistol from a cabinet that was usually locked, so that they could shoot their parents.

Jeffrey was the prosecution's principal witness. He testified that he and his brother both shot each parent, but that the crime was Robert's idea.

Robert's defense lawyers argued that Jeffrey planned the murders because he was doing poorly in school and was afraid of being disciplined. The lawyers said Robert's ''only crime'' was helping clean up after the killings and failing to notify the police.

The Dingman murders provoked comparison in the local press to the 1989 murders by Erik and Lyle Menendez of their wealthy parents in Beverly Hills, Calif. In that case, prosecutors said the brothers killed their parents to inherit the family fortune. The Menendez brothers were sentenced to life in prison.

The Dingman parents left an estate valued at less than $200,000.

Source:
http://www.nytimes.com/1997/05/29/us/you...rents.html

[Maggot]

When a person does things like that they never forget stuff like the sound of crinkling plastic or the thud of a body on the floor. It could be something as simple as a sound that sends a person into a murderous rage. I'm not sure if I would want to be the person that signs the paper that sets a person like that free.
I would not want him as a neighbor at any rate. He may find it tough to be accepted in any situation his entire life, and that might just be the spark that puts him over the top again.
Who can guarantee that? Nobody.

[HairOfTheDog]

I would not want him as a neighbor at any rate. He may find it tough to be accepted in any situation his entire life, and that might just be the spark that puts him over the top again.
Who can guarantee that? Nobody.

Definitely a risk.

This recent parole of another teen murderer has some people up in arms.


Kristina Fetters in 1995 - 14-years-old


Kristina Fetters today - 33-years-old

Fetters broke out of a treatment facility back in 1995 when she was 14, along with a friend. She went to her great aunt's home and stabbed the elderly woman multiple times.

The aunt died and Fetters was tried as an adult and sentenced to life in prison for the murder. Her lawyers had argued "insanity", but the prosecutors and jury believed she was sane - her motive: robbery.

Now, almost 20 years later, Fetters is suffering from terminal stage 4 breast cancer and an Iowa judge and parole board have agreed to release her from prison and into home hospice.

Can't argue with those pointing out on news sites that a lot of people die of terminal diseases in prison and life should mean "life", no matter what.

But, for me, the main concern with paroling killers is exactly what you pointed out: re-offending and posing a danger to society. In this case, it seems highly unlikely that Fetters could be dangerous. So, I don't oppose this compassionate release, but it wouldn't have bothered me if she'd been forced to die in the pen either.

[sally]

She'll probably die quicker once Hospice gets a hold of her.

[HairOfTheDog]

Teen Kills Mom - Released from Prison after 15 Years



The night of her mother Vicki's murder, 15-year-old Valessa Robinson, her 19-year-old boyfriend Adam Davis and another friend, Jon Whispel (all shown above), went to a Denny's restaurant and hatched the plan to kill Valessa's mom.

According to state records, the three stole Vicki Robinson's van and tried to buy heroin. Davis bought a syringe, and back at the house put Vicki Robinson in a sleeper hold and injected her with bleach. When that didn't kill her, he stabbed her multiple times (though Valessa initially confessed to stabbing her too).

Six days after Vicki Robinson disappeared, the three youths were arrested in a high-speed chase in Texas. Vicki Robinson's body was found in a garbage can in a woods near her home.

Valessa Robinson was convicted of third-degree murder and got 20 years. Prosecutors said her mother had planned to send the teen to a Christian boarding school for troubled girls.


Robinson, now 30 ^, was not expected to get out of prison until 2015. Florida law mandates that inmates serve at least 85 percent of their sentences before they are eligible for release.

But earlier this year, her release was moved up to February. State corrections officials say release dates can change for several reasons. Robinson received credit for the time she served in jail before her conviction, and she earned 1,146 days of gain time for good behavior.

Meanwhile, Davis is on death row and Whispel remains in prison, not expected to be released until 2020.

Valessa should have gotten as much time as Whispel, at the very least. If she'd been male, she would have. IMO.


American Justice clip on the murder/case:

[Duchess]

I get so sick of reading about murderers being released. I guess I don't have anything to say that I haven't said before. I am so disgusted.

[Duchess]

I want these people to pay!

[HairOfTheDog]

I understand your feelings, Duchess. It's frustrating.

I also understand those who think rehabilitation should be one of the goals of incarceration, especially for juvenile offenders. Kids can sometimes be enticed to do things by older teens and drugs, etc...

If they grow into adults who show no proclivity to re-offend, maybe they deserve a second chance, though it's a risk and there are no guarantees they won't get into trouble again.

IDK. I sometimes struggle with what's the right punishment for minors and whether or not they can truly be rehabilitated when the crime is murder, especially if they've taken a family member's life. Regardless, they should at least serve their full sentences, IMO.

Valessa got 3 years deducted for good behavior (even though she did have some disciplinary action against her in prison). That's a lot of time off of a 20 year sentence.

I know the prisons are overcrowded, but don't think murderers are the inmates we want getting released early in any case.

[nrkerr]

They need to release the potheads, then they would have room for those who truly deserve to be in there...child molestors and murderers.

[Cynical Ninja]

The UK is as soft as shit with juvenile offenders when you are a kid and you are old enough to know right from wrong you should face the same consequences of the law as an adult.

I agree about keeping the murderers in jail and releasing people jailed for not payingh fines or council tax.

[Miss Vickie]

I would like to know how the parolees function after they are released. After years of such a structured environment and then boom they are turned out. Our economy isn't the greatest in the US and I think it would be difficult for an ex-con to get a job or even a place to live.

[SIXFOOTERsez]

A lot don't do well, the recidivism rates are very high. Some of it is race based, the recidivism rates for blacks is much higher than whites, seems to indicate that whites "Learn" from the prison experience, but I don't believe that. Most of them get out on parole of some kind so there is some continued Structure, part of that is housing assistance and that sort of thing that gets worked out before they are released. So the initial start on the outside they get some help with, the problems come along shortly after that when they have to stay on the straight and narrow. The druggies are stupid, dope does that you know, and they think we are just as stupid as they are, so they do stupid drug related shit and end up back inside.
Ever watch Cops? You see most of them running around out on the street with their whole stash in their pocket, driving a car with expired tags and no tail lights, Begging to get stopped.

[Miss Vickie]

Good point. I sort of relate that poverty thing to having that stash in their pocket. I can't afford to go buy drugs and then expect to have everything else too. Which is more important to me, a house or getting stoned. I guess I'm more responsible and not being a junkie or going down the path to be one really helps.