Advertisement. Advertise with us

DON’T PAROLE

JILL’S KILLER,

COUNTY ASKS

With One Abstention, One Nay, Reps

Petition NYS Board, Back Seward’s Bill

County Rep. Dan Wilber, R-Burlington, makes a motion to urge the state Parole Board not to grant parole to David Dart, convicted in the 1989 slaying in Oneonta’s parking deck. In the foreground is Keith McCarty, R-East Springfield. (Jim Kevlin/AllOTSEGO.com)

By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com

COOPERSTOWN – With board Vice Chairman Gary Koutnik abstaining, and another Democrat voting nay, the county Board of Representatives today asked the state Parole Board “to deny the release, conditional or otherwise,” of David Dart, convicted of slaying 18-year-old Jill Gibbons with a “Rambo-style knife” in the Oneonta Municipal Parking Garage in 1989.

The resolution, passed 12-1-1, also put the county board on record supporting a bill, S4354, introduced several times by state Sen. Jim Seward, R-Milford, to increase the time between parole hearing for “violent crimes” from two to five years.

The issue has a particularly high profile right now, given last weekend’s “Justice for Jill” rally in Oneonta’s Muller Plaza, where Jill’s sister Jennifer Kirkpatrick asked attendees to sign a petition urging the Parole Board to extend the time between parole hearings for people like Dart.

As a late resolution  (Dart’s next parole hearing is due Nov. 4, before the next county board meeting) introduced by county Rep. Dan Wilber, R-Burlington, and seconded by Kathy Clark, D-Otego, it looked at first that it might falter in a partisan split.  It required two-thirds approval.

Noting Albany’s softening on issues of crime and punishment, Koutnik concluded, “I don’t feel ready to vote on the parole system of New York State,” and said he would abstain.

Said Michele Farwell, D-Butternuts, “I’d like the chance to do my homework” on the definition of “violent crime,” and inmates who saw the gap between parole hearings “wouldn’t necessarily have committed murder.”   Danny Lapin, D-Oneonta, also raised concerned about the “violent crimes” definition.

Chairman David Bliss, R-Cooperstown/Town of Middlefield, called a brief recess for County Attorney Ellen Coccoma to research the issue, and she returned concluding that the term refers to a short list of convictions – “murder, aggravated murder” and the like.

Then, Andrew Stammel, D-Town of Oneonta, who is also a lawyer, proposed a modification to Wilber’s motion, adding the words, “after following its established procedures and exercising due diligence,” words that suggested the county board isn’t trying to impinge on the Parole Board’s responsibilities.

This seemed to ease individual members’ concerns, and board members shared memories of the community’s horror of what Wilber called a “heinous, vicious’ crime.

Farwell recalled the murder occurring just as she was graduating from high school:  She was Jill’s age.

Meg Kennedy, C-Mount Upton, said she was “very well acquainted with the facts of the case,” as the Oneonta Farmers’ Market, where she was selling flowers, was held in the same parking deck where the crime occurred, although on another level.

“There was no question of guilt,” she recalled.  “And zero remorse” on Dart’s part.

The motion then passed quickly, with the one abstention and Liz Shannon, D-Oneonta, voting nay.

 

Posted

1 Comment

  1. How can anyone think this was not a heinous crime??? A man walks up BEHIND an 18 year old young woman and STABS HER 42 times?!?!? Shame on you that voted no!!!! Come stand in my shoes for a day and maybe, just maybe, you’ll feel an ounce of my pain!!!
    Pass Seward’s Bill!! May nothing like this happen to someone you love!!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Related Articles

SCOLINOS: It’s All We Need To Know: Home Plate 17 Inches Wide

COLUMN VIEW FROM THE GAME It’s All We Need To Know: Home Plate 17 Inches Wide Editor’s Note:  Tim Mead, incoming Baseball Hall of Fame president, cited John Scolinos, baseball coach at his alma mater, Cal Poly Pomona, as a lifelong inspiration, particularly Scolinos’ famous speech “17 Inches.” Chris Sperry, who published sperrybaseballlife.com, heard Scolinos deliver a version in 1996 at the American Baseball Coaches Association in Nashville, and wrote this reminiscence in 1916 in his “Baseball Thoughts” column. By CHRIS SPERRY • from www.sperrybaseballlife.com In 1996, Coach Scolinos was 78 years old and five years retired from a college coaching…

Sports Can Resume, Superintendents Told

CLICK HERE FOR MEMO TO SCHOOLS Sports Can Resume, Superintendents Told COOPERSTOWN – In a memo released Friday evening, county Public Health Director Heidi Bond advised local school superintendents that sports can resume as early as Monday. “Effective Feb. 1, participants in higher-risk sports may participate in individual or distanced group training and organized no/low-contact group training,” Bond wrote, “…including competitions and tournaments, if permitted by local health authorities.”…

Piper Seamon Scores 1,000th point

1,000 THANKS! Piper Seamon 5th CCS Girl To Hit High Mark The Cooperstown Central student section erupts as Piper Seamon scores her 1,000th career point in the Hawkeyes’ 57-39 win over Waterville at home last evening. Seamon becomes the fifth girl and only the 14th player in school history overall to score 1,000 points.  Inset at right, Pipershares a hug with teammate Meagan Schuermann after the game was stopped to acknowledge her achievement. Seamon will play basketball next year at Hamilton College. (Cheryl Clough/AllOTSEGO.com)  …

Putting the Community Back Into the Newspaper

Now through March 30, new annual subscribers to “The Freeman’s Journal” and AllOtsego.com (or subscribers who have lapsed for two or more years) have an opportunity to help their choice of one of four Otsego County charitable organizations.

$5.00 of your subscription will be donated to the nonprofit of your choice:

Cooperstown Farmers’ Market, Cooperstown Food Pantry, Greater Oneonta Historical Society or Super Heroes Humane Society.