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Post by Charlene on Sept 26, 2005 19:46:07 GMT -6
Onslow killer up for parole this year The Daily News
A former Navy corpsman, who was found guilty in 1974 in one of Onslow County's most notorious 1st-degree murder and kidnapping cases, will be considered for parole this year.
Marcus Shrader III, 64, was convicted of the 1st-degree murder and kidnapping of Cheryl Potter Boyd. He also was charged with killing 3 other women in the 1970s, including two Jacksonville teenagers, but was never tried in connection to the murders.
Shrader was sentenced to death for killing Boyd - a sentence that was converted to life imprisonment after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty was unconstitutional. The death penalty was later reinstated, but Shrader's life sentence remained.
Shrader has been eligible for parole since 1986. His case comes up for review every year, but this is the first time his release is being investigated by the state's Parole Commission, said Melita Groomes, executive director of the N.C. Post Release Supervision and Parole Commission.
If Shrader is paroled, he will be turned over to the U.S. Marshal Service in order to serve a 20-year sentence for robbing the North Carolina National Bank on Aug. 16, 1974.
"We are looking at the possibility of sending him to that federal sentence," Groomes said.
There are no guarantees that Shrader will serve out the entire 20-year sentence. Even if he does, District Attorney Dewey Hudson is against the state giving Shrader parole.
"I strongly oppose any early release or parole of this defendant," Hudson said in a written release. "This is one of the most dangerous killers ever in North Carolina."
Hudson sent a letter of opposition to the Parole Commission on Sept. 1. Hudson, Assistant District Attorney Ernie Lee, Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown, Jacksonville Police Chief Mike Yaniero and Onslow County Commissioner Delma Collins will address the three-member commission Thursday in Raleigh. Collins and Brown, who were officers at the Jacksonville Police Department at the time of Shrader's arrest, both worked on the case.
"He should remain in prison for the rest of his life," Hudson said.
Shrader is in a medium-security prison at Eastern Correctional Institute in Maury, which is in Greene County. Since he was placed in N.C. Department of Correction, Shrader has had 67 infractions ranging from weapons possession to profane language, according to the DOC Web site.
Shrader's case is among the most well-known and frightening in Onslow County history.
He kidnapped Boyd in the parking lot of a Jacksonville post office on Aug. 16, 1974 and forced her to help him rob North Carolina National Bank. After the robbery, Shrader and Boyd returned to her car and they drove to an alley behind a Jacksonville A&P grocery store. Shrader then shot Boyd in the head with a .45-caliber pistol.
When Shrader was arrested Aug. 18, 1974, he was charged in connection with four deaths, including Boyd's and that of Tasca Virginia Rader, Cindy Howard and Karen Amabile. Rader was kidnapped in January 1974, allegedly forced to help in a bank robbery and then killed. Howard and Amabile, who were both 15 years old, were strangled and raped in early August 1974 and found on a dirt road in the Bear Creek area, according to a Daily News report.
Howard's older sister, Susan Henderson of Jacksonville, has written letters to the Parole Commission and Gov. Mike Easley. She is adamantly opposed to Shrader receiving parole.
"We have all gone on with our life, but it is still a part of your life," Henderson said. "You don't want it to consume you. But we will actively take a stand to keep him in prison where he certainly belongs after murdering four people."
Henderson doesn't feel confident Shrader will have to serve the entire 20-year federal sentence. "He can get out and live a full life for another 20 years where Cindy never lived 20 years total," she said.
When Shrader testified at his trial, he said, he had been having sex with his teenage stepdaughter, Debbie Brown, for two years. Brown had testified that he raped her when she was 12, according to a state Supreme Court decision filed June 1976.
Shrader pleaded guilty to kidnapping Boyd and was convicted of 1st-degree murder in Onslow County Superior Court, Hudson said.
While Brown testified against him in that trial, she would not testify in other cases, Hudson said. She served seven years of a 15-year-sentence for 2nd-degree kidnapping. Henderson objected to her parole as well and, at the time, presented the Parole Commission with a petition with more than 4,000 signatures on it.
The petition didn't seem to have any impact, Henderson said. But she is encouraged that the district attorney's office and law enforcement officials are fighting to keep Shrader behind bars.
"To me that means so much to our family that the people of Onslow County are trying to take a stand and keep him in there," she said. "It's meant a lot that they still care after 30 years and that law enforcement will back us and stand behind us. You don't feel like you are alone out there trying to fight."
The notice of Shrader's parole consideration was released Aug. 25. The Parole Commission has to make its decision within 90 days of sending out the notice, Groomes said.
People can send letters in support or against Shrader's parole to the N.C. Post Release Supervision and Parole Commission, 2020 Yonkers Road, 4222 MSC, Raleigh, N.C. 27699-4222, by fax to (919) 716-3987 or can call (919) 716-3010.
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Post by Ariel on Feb 4, 2007 19:34:59 GMT -6
What a pity we can't execute him. At least he should never be set free.
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Post by Pro-Death Penalty Forever on May 4, 2008 15:43:02 GMT -6
I know this article is a Tad old but could someone tell me whether Shrader was ever released from prison?
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Post by Kay on May 4, 2008 18:15:30 GMT -6
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Post by Pro-Death Penalty Forever on May 4, 2008 18:41:40 GMT -6
Phew! what a relief, I was going to become very upset if he had in fact been released from prison!!!!!!!!
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Post by Deleted on May 5, 2008 18:16:49 GMT -6
There was a guy here down under in the news recently who was sentenced to death for a 1964 murder.
Have a guess why he was in the news. He is accused of chasing down a women and shooting her dead
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Post by lawrence on Sept 19, 2008 4:36:48 GMT -6
If hes been convicted of a crime and done the time by your justice system, thats it. Period. No point winging about it. Write to your MP's senators, Governors etc and complain or vote in an election. I'm sorry, i don't want these POS going free but the law is the law and if he's done his time for the crime and the law states hes to be freed , thats it. If he kills again then fry the scummer, if not then let him be. Its the law, if hes eligible hes eligible.
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Post by Lotus Flower on Sept 19, 2008 10:49:57 GMT -6
If hes been convicted of a crime and done the time by your justice system, thats it. Period. No point winging about it. Write to your MP's senators, Governors etc and complain or vote in an election. I'm sorry, i don't want these POS going free but the law is the law and if he's done his time for the crime and the law states hes to be freed , thats it. If he kills again then fry the scummer, if not then let him be. Its the law, if hes eligible hes eligible. You are dense. Being eligible for parole does not mean you have served the complete time of your sentence. In fact, it means you are requesting early release. If you're not for them being released, then why are you for them being eligible for parole? That makes no sense.
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