| For Immediate Release
October 3, 2012 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami
|
PAROLE DENIED FIVE YEARS FOR INMATE CONVICTED OF SHOOTING AND MURDERING THREE PEOPLE IN 1977
*Co-defendant in this case is scheduled for a parole hearing in 2014
SANTA ANA – The Board of Parole Hearings (Board), California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitations denied parole for five years yesterday, Oct. 2, 2012, for a man convicted of shooting and murdering three people in 1977. Brett Matthew Paul Thomas, 53, is currently being held at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility, San Diego. Thomas pleaded guilty to the court on Oct. 17, 1977, to three felony counts of first degree murder with a sentencing enhancement for the personal use of a firearm and was sentenced to three life terms in prison.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Jim Mendelson and Lynette Duncan, the surviving daughter to one of the victims, as well as the victim advocacy personnel, appeared in front of the Board to provide a Victim Impact Statement and oppose parole.
Lynette Duncan, whose father and sister were killed and whose mother was shot, gave an emotional statement to the Board recalling the night of the murders and how she and her family were directly affected and said in part, “Life was very difficult after that. My family, which previously spent many weekends camping or visiting friends, ceased to exist. My Mom checked out emotionally. The rest of us found families of close friends to emotionally adopt. We couldn’t help each other heal because we were all just surviving and needing help ourselves. I would love to now know my dad and sister as adults.”
Duncan went on to say, “Brett Thomas knew the consequences of his actions, that is why he tried so hard to not leave any witnesses. He could have just asked my dad for the money, he would have given it to him or better yet, gotten a job, like everybody else. But by choosing to murder [my father], he chose his life sentence. A life sentence should be for life.”
The Board took into consideration the facts of the case before denying inmate’s parole and felt he still poses a significant risk to society if released. Thomas will be eligible for another parole consideration hearing in 2017.
Circumstances of 1977 Murders
On Jan. 21, 1977, Thomas, then-18 years old, and Mark Wayne Titch, who was then 17 years old, attempted to burglarize the home of 20-year-old Laura Stoughton. The inmates kidnapped the victim when she returned home then shot and murdered her at a dump site in Orange. Her body was recovered laying in a fetal position clutching a rosary.
At approximately 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 24 1977, Thomas and Titch went to a drive-in dairy store in Garden Grove and attempted to rob the cashier. Thomas was not able to get any money