Published: March 07, 2009 10:41 pm      

What was the parole board thinking?

I write this letter in response to the decision the Mississippi Parole Board made to parole convicted capital murderer, Douglas Hodgkin. In 1987, Hodgkin was convicted of binding, gagging, raping, sodomizing, beating and strangling to death University of Mississippi student, Jean Elizabeth Gillies. He was also convicted of causing the death of her unborn child. According to police statements, Hodgkin spent the rest of the night with the deceased Gillies and later told police that she committed suicide. Mr. Hodgkin is now set to be released from the Mississippi Department of Corrections, and will soon be able to walk freely among each and every one of us.

As our society continues to wring its hands at the impending collapse of our economy, stories like this seem to fly under the radar. However gloomy our economic situation may be, it pales in comparison to tragedies like this, and the tragic decision of our state’s parole board to release a monster such as Hodgkin. While non-violent criminals waste away in Mississippi prisons under mandatory sentencing laws, this convicted killer is now able to walk next to you on the street, drive his car next to you on the interstate and, dare I say, move into a house in your neighborhood, where your children play in an environment you assume to be safe from savages like him. And while I support the department of corrections’ intent to “rehabilitate” criminals of all kind, I find no sympathy for this individual, nor can I understand the decision to parole this hardened, convicted killer.

If you, like me, find this an absolute and gross miscarriage of justice, please make your opinion known to the Mississippi Parole Board members, one of whom is a Meridian resident, Betty Lou Jones. They should answer for their decision to parole this man, and give us evidence that there was no one more suitable for release. I wonder how they will sleep at night when Mr. Hodgkin binds, gags, rapes, sodomizes, beats and strangles someone else?

Under Mississippi law, Hodgkin became eligible for parole in 1997, and parole has been denied each year. He is currently 43 years old and, according to a 2004 study in Washington state, 35 percent more likely to re-offend as a murderer, 56 percent more likely to re-offend as a perpetrator of assault, and 30% more likely to re-commit a sex crime. Although his family resides in Kentucky, and he is expected to return there, he is under no obligation to do so. In fact, he could be coming to a neighborhood near you.



Jason Armstrong

Meridian