Legislation that would keep convicted kidnappers in prison longer made it through a House subcommittee Thursday.
The bill is in response to last year’s slaying of 15-year-old Kathlynn Shepard, who police say was abducted along with 12-year-old Dezirea Hughes by Michael Klunder of Stratford.
Hughes escaped, and authorities later found Klunder’s body -- who had apparently killed himself -- and, later still, the body of Shepard.
Klunder, a registered sex offender, was sentenced to 41 years in prison on a kidnapping charge in 1992 but was released after serving less than half his sentence because of good behavior.
House Study Bill 501 adds “where the victim is 15 years of age or younger” to the state’s definition of second-degree kidnapping and makes those convicted of such an offense ineligible for sentence reductions.
House Judiciary Chairman Chip Baltimore said that time off is unacceptable. He expects the bill to make it to the full committee for a vote.
“The message is keep your hands off our kids,” he said.
Officials have continued to search for any link to Michael Klunder and the 2012 Evansdale abduction and slaying of cousins Lyric Cook-Morrissey, 10, and Elizabeth Collins, 8.
They went missing while riding their bicycles, which were found near Meyers Lake on July 13, 2012. Their remains were found by hunters Dec. 5, 2012, in Seven Bridges Park in rural Bremer County, about 25 miles away. ..Source.. by WCF Courier.com
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