The part where he says it's unfair that his victim's grandson spent money on the investigation galls me. He's acting as though he didn't take a life.
On Tue, Jun 15, 2010 at 1:35 PM, Martin Baxter <[email protected]>wrote: > > > I'm not sure that I can feel any sympathy for this guy, Keith, because I'm > not buying his story. Nothing I can put my finger on, mind you. Just my > Little Voice chatting me up. > > And I'm as speechless as you, after reading that... [?] > > On Tue, Jun 15, 2010 at 1:02 PM, Keith Johnson > <[email protected]>wrote: > >> >> >> Wow. What really sucks is that he's going to die in jail not because he >> avoided his just sentence for the murder, but because he skipped out on >> parole?? And damn, what a commentary, to skip out on parole rather than >> being with your wife? Not sure Dr. Phil could even save that one! >> >> >> >> As far as him saying he was a different person, and the fact that he >> likely had mental problems: a few years ago I got into a long debate with a >> conservative co-worker who strongly supports the death penalty, which I >> oppose. I asked him if, as a Christian, he believed a man could truly repent >> and become a new man, as the Bible says. >> >> "Yes", he said, "I believe some people do evil things but can in time, >> with God's help, change" >> >> "So", I asked, "then you see my point, that some people can after years >> become different than the murderers they once were. The average death row >> inmate's in jail for over a decade, and in that time, you could be killing a >> completely different human being". >> >> He responded, "You're right. That's why we need to start executing people >> as fast as possible, so they don't have time to change and become better >> people". >> >> >> >> Uncharacteristically, I had nothing to say after that... >> >> >> >> ********************************************************************** >> >> >> By MATT GOURAS, Associated Press Writer Matt Gouras, Associated Press >> Writer – Tue Jun 15, 5:55 am ET >> >> HELENA, Mont. – The aging Frank Dryman, a notorious killer from Montana's >> past, had hidden in plain sight for so long that he forgot he was a wanted >> man. >> >> >> >> In an exclusive jailhouse >> interview<http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_wedding_chapel_fugitive#>with The >> Associated Press, Dryman detailed how he invented a whole new life, >> with a new family, an Arizona wedding chapel business — and even volunteer >> work for local civic clubs. >> >> "They just forgot about me," said Dryman, in his first interview since >> being caught and sent back to the prison he last left in the 1960s. "I was a >> prominent member of the community." >> >> >> >> That is, until the grandson of the man he shot six times in the back came >> looking. >> >> >> >> Dryman had been one step ahead of the law since 1951 when he avoided the >> hangman's noose, a relic of frontier justice still in use at the time. >> >> Less than 20 years later he was out on parole. Not content with that good >> fortune, he skipped out and evaded authorities for four decades. After a >> while he even forgot about hiding and signed up for V.A. benefits from his >> days in the Navy in 1948. >> >> >> >> Now the 79-year-old Dryman is back behind >> bars<http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_wedding_chapel_fugitive#>, >> likely for what remains of his life. >> >> >> >> He was caught only after his long-ago victim's grandson got curious and >> started poking around. >> >> Dryman was hitching a ride from Shelby cafe owner Clarence Pellett on a >> cold and snowy day in 1951 when he pulled a gun and ordered Pellett out of >> his own car and began firing. Dryman does not deny the crime — just that >> he's not the same man today. He has been Victor Houston for decades. At the >> time >> of the murder <http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_wedding_chapel_fugitive#>, >> and after being discharged from the Navy for mental issues, he was going by >> yet another name: Frank Valentine. >> >> "That kid, Frank Valentine, he just exploded," Dryman says of his crime. >> "I didn't shoot that man in the back. That wild kid did. That's not me. >> >> >> >> "Victor Houston tried to make up for it by being an honor citizen." >> >> >> >> Dryman says he served his time, which he did until paroled. But a Montana >> Parole >> Board <http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_wedding_chapel_fugitive#> not >> accustomed to leniency on those who walk away from supervision was not >> impressed with Dryman's subsequent good deeds. Last month the board sent him >> back behind bars to serve what remains of his life >> sentence<http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_wedding_chapel_fugitive#> >> . >> >> >> >> Dryman said he disappeared from parole in California to get away from a >> wife he didn't like. He said he's not sure why he just didn't leave the wife >> and remain on parole. But once gone, he said, he didn't look back. His new >> wife and family knew nothing of his past. He put down roots in Arizona City >> painting signs, a trade learned in prison, and performing weddings. >> >> >> >> "I never thought I was a parole violator. I was Victor Houston. I never >> looked over my shoulder," Dryman said. "I just forgot about it." >> >> >> >> On his birthday he used to get two cards from his brother: one for Houston >> and one for Valentine. >> >> "I thought it was cute. I had no fear," Dryman said. >> >> He said the details of his past are just coming back: the shooting, his >> original sentence and the cause he became for opponents of the death >> penalty, and his first stint in >> prison<http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_wedding_chapel_fugitive#>. >> >> >> >> >> "Only since I have been back here did I start to think about it," said >> Dryman. "To be honest, I didn't even remember the victim's >> name<http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_wedding_chapel_fugitive#>." >> >> >> >> >> Dryman understands he is not likely to get out again now. And he is not >> kindly disposed to the victim's grandson, the Bellevue, Wash., oral surgeon >> who became intensely interested in a piece of family history he knew nothing >> about. Clem Pellett compiled reams of old documents and tracked down his >> grandfather's killer with the help of a private investigator. >> >> >> >> "I can't blame him for what he did," Dryman said. "But I think it was so >> wrong he spent so much money getting me here. I feel it is unfair." >> >> >> >> Many in the Pellett family do remember the murder. A dozen descendants >> showed up at the parole hearing when Dryman was rearrested to testify >> against his release, saying the killing had forever changed the history of >> the family. They said as kids they lived in fear of hitchhikers — even in >> fear of Dryman. Some remembered Dryman's courtroom outburst at his first >> trial that resulted in conviction and a hanging sentence. >> >> >> >> "He turned to the judge and said, 'I'm going to kill you,' he turned to >> the jury and said 'I am going to kill you' and he turned to the crowd and >> said some stuff like that," said Clem Pellett. "He was an angry young man >> who felt powerless." >> >> >> >> Pellett only learned the details of the >> case<http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_wedding_chapel_fugitive#>last year after >> cleaning out boxes of old newspaper clippings. His own >> parents never talked about the murder. He had never even really known the >> Montana side of his family, where the pain of the killing still lingers. >> Pellett, without even talking to those relatives, began a quest to learn >> more, compiling old records, court transcripts, ancient arrest records for >> Dryman's petty crimes prior to the shooting — all of which he used to track >> down his grandfather's killer. >> >> Pellett said he was driven by an intense curiosity, and would now like to >> meet with Dryman to fill in holes in the story that he may chronicle in a >> book. >> >> Dryman doesn't think he will agree to the meeting. He also denounces the >> allegation that he made a courtroom death threat, which Clem Pellett said >> was confirmed through his research. >> >> >> >> Dryman lives in a low security wing of the Montana State Prison, wears >> prison-issue clothing and due to failing eyesight walks with a cane to avoid >> tripping. Being interviewed in the same parole board room where was he >> returned to prison for life, Dryman said of Clem Pellett, "He's already got >> me here, he should be happy. I think they got their pound of flesh, and I >> accept it." >> >> One of the original prosecutors in the case also never forgot about >> Dryman. >> >> >> >> "It was a very notorious case, perhaps the biggest of the time," said John >> Luke McKeon, now 85. >> >> McKeon, a very young assistant attorney general assigned to the case >> despite his own opposition to the death >> penalty<http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_wedding_chapel_fugitive#>, >> said the Montana Supreme Court threw out the hanging sentence amid some of >> the most intense arguments over the death penalty the state had seen. >> >> McKeon wrote a letter to the parole board in late May asking for leniency, >> telling the board he thinks Dryman has paid for his crime. But it got there >> after the board made its decision. >> >> The former prosecutor doesn't see any way out for Dryman this time. >> >> >> >> "I don't think the governor's going to give him exoneration," he said. "I >> think he is going to die in >> prison<http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_wedding_chapel_fugitive#> >> ." >> > > > > -- > "If all the world's a stage and we are merely players, who the bloody hell > wrote the script?" -- Charles E Grant > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik > >
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