Haley Barbour pardons 4 killers on his way out the door
This thug still thinks he should be president of the United States
Daylife/Reuters Pictures used by permission
In his last days in office, outgoing Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour pardoned four men convicted of murder…David Gatlin, Joseph Ozment, Charles Hooker and Anthony McCray received full pardons and were released at 1 p.m. Sunday, said Suzanne Singletary, spokeswoman for the Mississippi Department of Corrections. All four were serving life sentences and worked as trusties at the governor’s mansion, she said.
I guess they were extra polite serving the governor his bourbon and branch.
Gatlin was convicted of murder, aggravated assault and burglary of a residence…Ozment was convicted of murder, conspiracy and armed robbery in a separate case…
Hooker was convicted in a 1991 murder, while McCray was convicted in a 2001 murder, Singletary said…
Families of the men’s victims told CNN affiliates WAPT and WLBT they are outraged by Barbour’s decision…In 1993, WLBT reported, Gatlin walked into the trailer where his estranged wife, Tammy Ellis Gatlin, lived and shot her in the head. The woman’s friend, Randy Walker, survived a gunshot to the head.
“Is Gov. Barbour going to pardon us from our aches and pains and heartache that we have to suffer?” the victim’s mother, Betty Ellis, asked WLBT. “Is he going to pardon a child that had to grow up without a mother? Is he going to pardon me from never being able to feel her arms around my neck again? What is Barbour going to do about that?”
Tammy Gatlin’s sister, Tiffany Ellis Brewer, said David Gatlin served less time than her sister lived.
“It’s completely unfair,” she said. “I mean, he’s in jail for 18 years. She was 20 years old when she died and had her child laying in her arms when he shot her in the head. And he’s pardoned?”
Meanwhile, the family of Ricky Montgomery told WAPT they received a call from the department on Saturday reporting Ozment’s pardon. Montgomery, 33, was a store clerk who was slain on the job. Ozment was convicted of his murder.
“Of course it’s devastating,” said Mark McAbee, Montgomery’s nephew…McAbee said his mother was incredulous two years ago to learn Ozment had been assigned to work at the governor’s mansion…
“We have people out on the streets that are sex offenders that have to register,” McAbbe said. “This is a man (who) killed somebody. This man took somebody’s life, and it’s not going to indicate that on any paperwork.”
Governors have the right to do this, of course. Still, you have to wonder what sort of standards govern the decision-making in cases like these. It reads like as long as you stay polite, kiss the governor’s rusty-dusty while making noises about being a reformed con – the man in charge forgets about the victims, their families, lives ended by violent death.
