NH- 81 killers on parole in state

4-12-2009 New Hampshire:

When a paroled child killer recently walked the downtown of Concord looking for a job, a television news crew followed his every step.

Raymond Guay has attracted attention with each move he has made since his release from prison in February. A public outcry forced him out of Manchester and then out of the state. He eventually returned to New Hampshire, first to Concord and then to the Chichester home of a pastor who invited the parolee to stay there with his wife and five children.

Very few parolees have a criminal record that match Guay's: He killed a Nashua boy in 1973, kidnapped a Concord couple during a prison break in 1982 and was convicted for a prison assault with intent to kill.

But Guay is not the only person to have completed a sentence for killing and has since rejoined society.

Eighty-one people convicted of killing another person – capital murder, first-degree murder, second-degree murder, manslaughter or negligent homicide – now live in a New Hampshire community as a state-supervised parolee, according to the state Adult Parole Board. An additional 21 killers who served time in the New Hampshire prison system are now on parole in other states.

Five of them committed capital murder, with three of them living in other states. Because they were convicted before the state instituted stiffer sentencing laws, these parolees have served their sentences and started another chapter in their lives.

Six people convicted of first-degree murder are also out on parole and living in New Hampshire.

Two people convicted of second-degree murder now live in Nashua, according to the board. Three people who served sentences for negligent homicide live in Nashua and a fourth resides in Hudson.

"The public doesn't necessarily think about someone who has killed and is out in their community," said Chris Callahan, assistant director of probation and parole for the state Department of Corrections' field services division. "When the public hears about someone out on parole, they think it's for lesser crimes."

The public probably doesn't fret much over convicted killers back in society because the parolees stay in the background and out of trouble, Callahan said.

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Out of the glare of the public spotlight, the 81 parolees, for the most part, try to adjust to a world that changed greatly when they were in prison, according to state parole officials. Most of them are unlikely to kill again because they simply don't want to go back behind bars, the officials said.

Also, while the parolees were all found legally responsible for killing someone, how they killed and the type of person they are upon release factor largely into whether they will commit the crime again, officials said.

"While the offense is the same . . . they're all different. Each individual is different, and the circumstances behind the crime are different," said Barry Osborn, the chief probation and parole officer of the state Department of Corrections' field services office in Nashua.

"What are the chances those circumstances will happen again, and they will commit the same offense?"

Out on parole

Since John Eckert became executive assistant of the Adult Parole Board, not one paroled murderer has returned for killing again. One parolee went back to prison for possessing a knife, a few others have been sentenced for DUI and drug crimes, and some others got into trouble for not reporting to their parole officers, he said.

Still, a served sentence doesn't guarantee complete prevention of recidivism.

"The chance is there they could reoffend and commit a crime," Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Strelzin said. "There are people in psychiatry who say the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. It doesn't give you complete level of security; you have to watch."

Watching the parolees is the job of Osborn and those at the state's 11 parole and probation field offices. Parole officers monitor parolees to ensure they follow the terms of probation, but they also provide paths to social services and words of wisdom when necessary, Osborn said.

Through time and good behavior, probation visits lessen, Osborn said. For those who aren't subjected to lifetime parole and who have a clean arrest record, steady employment and stay free of illegal drugs, ultimately they will see an end to probation, he said.

As with any parolee who spent a considerable amount of time in prison, those who have killed handle life on the outside in different ways, Osborn said.

Some struggle with the routine of life that no longer has them locked into the minute-by-minute routine of prison, Osborn said. "Panic sets in. They can't cash a check or find a job. They live by the bell for years . . . but now they're out on their own," he said.

Others have a sounder support system – typically their parents – upon release and fare better, Osborn said.

'Last line of defense'

The nature of the crime also determines whether a parolee would consider killing again, Osborn and Strelzin said.

Guay drove 12-year-old John Lindovski to a hunter's club in Hollis and shot the boy in the head when he tried to escape. Lindovski was found wearing only socks, underwear and eyeglasses.

Guay completed a 25-year sentence for second-degree murder, but also had to serve additional time for breaking out of prison and tying up the elderly residents of a home, as well as for assaulting a prison inmate.

He has to serve his three-year probation sentence in New Hampshire, but was chased out of every community he tried to live in until the Chichester pastor took him in. Guay says he's a changed man and agreed to the pastor's terms of supervision.

Nonetheless, Guay's crimes "were pretty serious" and "atypical of most inmates," Strelzin said. Guay's criminal record "obviously raises the level of concern" of him being out of prison, he said.

But Strelzin and Osborn point to how the facts of each case prompts either more or less concern for one murder defendant over another.

Those who have killed under the influence of drugs or alcohol – either in a fight or drunken driving crash – will probably be less likely to land in that predicament again, Osborn said.

"It's out in front of them," he said. "They know what they did, and they don't want to go back there."

For example, a parolee who catches his spouse cheating and killed in an act of passion will probably not commit the crime again, Osborn said. But a parolee who waited to kill someone over owed money is someone worth worrying about and monitoring more closely, he said.

"We're the last line of defense for these people," said Sterling Wheeler, a parole and probation officer in the Nashua field office.

Wheeler has two parolees on his caseload who served time for killing someone.

One parolee killed someone under the influence of drugs during a craps game. He has made a "fantastic" adjustment to living again in society, Wheeler said.

Another parolee, who murdered an adult and kidnapped people, previously had difficulty adjusting to life outside prison, Wheeler said. But he has been out again for the past seven months and seems to be assimilating, he said. ..News Source.. by ALBERT McKEON Staff Writer