Isle killers get longer
minimum terms

The new trend has come about
under Al Beaver, the parole board's
new chairman

By Linda Hosek
Star-Bulletin

Richard Star's plan to murder his wife, Cynthia, included strangling her and sinking her in a surfboard bag at sea while their two children slept.

The 1994 plan, which failed when the bag surfaced, wasn't a factor when he received a life sentence with parole, a mandatory term for murder.

But the parole board seized on Star's premeditated actions when it recently ordered him to spend at least 50 years in prison before becoming eligible for parole, reflecting a new trend for lengthy murder minimums under Al Beaver, the board's new chairman.

"That's wonderful," Patty Johnson, Cynthia's sister, said from her Pittsburgh home. "I understand the goal of longer minimums is to send a message. I hope it gets through and prevents the next guy from killing his wife."

From 1987 to 1996, the average minimum term for second-degree murder was about 231/2 years, with terms ranging from five to 50 years.

Since January, when Beaver became chairman, the murder minimum has jumped to about 381/2 years, with terms ranging from 30 to 70 years.

The board also has increased overall minimum terms from about a third to a half of an inmate's sentence and increased prison time for parole violators from about seven months to a year.

Tony Commendador, the Hawaii Paroling Authority's administrator, described the new board as the "most punitive" in the agency's history.

Beaver said the increases reflect severe consequences for murder and less community tolerance for violent crime and repeat offenders. But he also said the board continues to focus on the nature of the offense, the degree of injury or loss and an inmate's criminal history.

"With Star, we didn't pick a number out of the air," Beaver said, describing Star as a cold-blooded killer. "We asked: 'Is the community safer without this individual on the street?'"

Not all agree

Susan Arnett, deputy public defender and Star's attorney, criticized the trend, saying minimum terms should be consistent with those set in the past.

"It's not supposed to be subject to a single person having that much authority," she said, adding that she anticipated someone would challenge the longer minimum terms.

Arnett also said setting such high minimum terms undermined the concept of a life sentence with parole, giving inmates virtually no chance of getting out or any motivation to change.

"It's hard to work with someone who has no light at the end of the tunnel," she said.

Arnett had argued that Star deserved a minimum in the range of 20 years because he had no criminal history.

But Beaver said the premeditated nature of Star's crime overshadowed his lack of criminal history. He also said the board emphasizes punishment for murderers, leaving rehabilitation to other inmates.

City Prosecutor Peter Carlisle applauded the near-doubling in murder minimum terms and the parole board's philosophy.

He said the 50-year minimum for 39-year-old Star "tells him he's going to die in prison. I think there's nothing wrong with sending that message."

Carlisle also said the higher minimums would survive challenges, saying the law allows the board to have discretion. He said defense attorneys would have to go to the state Legislature to change the law in a climate in which the community appears to favor longers terms.

Parole board guidelines recommend ranges for minimum terms, based on the severity of the offenses. The lowest level for life with parole sets the minimum at five to 10 years; the second level at 10 to 20 years; and the third level at 20 to 50 years.

50-year minimum requested

Dan Foley, a civil rights attorney who wrote the parole board rules, said Beaver was bypassing the lower levels listed for murder in the guidelines.

But he also said the guidelines did not have the weight of law and that Beaver may not be constrained by them.

Deputy Prosecutor Chris Van Marter had asked for a 50-year minimum for Star, saying he could find no mitigating circumstances for his actions.

Star had argued that he suffered for years from emotional and psychological abuse by his wife, but feared he could lose his children if they divorced.

He said he called off a plan to kill her, but strangled her in the heat of the moment on July 10, 1994. Once dead, he activated his plan and dumped her in a surfboard bag at sea.

Van Marter said Star's high minimum may send a message to others also contemplating murder, forcing them to consider the consequence of their action.

"People have to be held responsible for taking a life, even if it means sacrificing their life in prison," he said.

Sisters cheer outcome

Patty Johnson and her sister, Kathy Foster, said Star deserved a long minimum, with both adding: "He's where he deserves to be."

But they said their nephews, ages 7 and 9, have no mother or father.

They also questioned how much of the 50 years he would serve in prison.

"It sounds good," Foster said from her Washington state home. "But what does it mean? That he'll do eight years?"

Commendador said Star can ask for a minimum reduction after he serves one-third of his sentence, in about 17 years. He also can ask for reductions every year after that.

But Commendador said reductions of more than five years were rare.

Beaver said an inmate's ability to reduce a minimum was another reason the board has increased the time in prison before parole. He said the board would not reduce minimum terms more than a year at a time.