Posted on 05/23/2005 6:06:18 AM PDT by Fido969
Monday, May 23, 2005
Minister had hope for ex-con in Maine
Associated Press
©Copyright 2004 Associated Press. E-mail this story to a friend
MONTPELIER, Vt. — The pastor who drove Kent Hanson to Maine after he was released from prison had high hopes for the ex-convict. The Rev. Pete Fiske of The Church at Prison holds services at the St. Albans prison and helps offenders after they leave prison.
On the morning of May 12, the 63-year-old Hanson had just served the last minutes of a 20-year sentence for the 1985 murder of Helena Warner. Fiske was taking the man to a transitional home in north central Maine because Hanson had few options for living in Vermont.
Instead, Maine police say Hanson stole a pickup truck from the home last week and they are investigating whether he assaulted a woman.
Fiske knew about Hanson's violent nature - Warner's murder and the plea of innocent by reason of insanity to the 1964 killing of his wife, Joan Hanson - but Fiske didn't see that side of Hanson as they made the trip to Maine. Hanson talked enthusiastically about a new life.
The trip ended on an optimistic note when Fiske and Hanson arrived at 2nd Chance Ranch, run by Fred and Christine Maddocks in Charleston, Maine.
"In my mind it was like a Walt Disney ending to a movie," Fiske recalled.
But circumstances changed quickly.
"I'm sorry that he made those decisions. It's basically throwing the rest of his life away," Fiske said.
Police found Hanson Friday in Detroit, Maine, at the home of a woman he had met the night before in a bar.
"We all knew that the worst thing that could happen is for him to start drinking," Fiske said.
Fiske wonders whether Hanson should have left jail at all.
"Given the way that it turned out," Fiske said, "it may have been better to have kept him in."
Maine police arrest parollee in Colby student murder
By Glenn Adams, Associated Press, 9/23/2003
WATERVILLE, Maine -- A 47-year-old parolee is being held in the abduction and murder of Colby College student Dawn Rossignol, state police said Tuesday.
Maine State Police said they expect the Attorney General's office to charge Edward Hackett with murder in the next couple of days.
Hackett, who was on parole from a Utah prison where he served time for a 1994 kidnapping and robbery, was first arrested Monday at his parents' home in Vassalboro on a charge of parole violation.
Rossignol's body was discovered Wednesday near Messalonskee Stream in Oakland. The Colby senior, 21, was reported missing the day before when she failed to show up for a doctor's appointment in Bangor.
Her car was parked nearby, and police say she was abducted after leaving her dormitory on the campus of the Waterville liberal arts college.
Police said there was no connection between Hackett and Rossignol, and that the murder was a "random act of violence."
Police in Utah said Hackett's first conviction in that state was in 1979 for theft, and he was in and out of the state prison during the 1980s, escaping at least twice.
Maine State Police Lt. Timothy Doyle Doyle said police believe Rossignol was abducted from a parking lot after leaving her dormitory .
Hackett's arrest came a day after a funeral Mass for the dean's list student. Rossignol was from the northern Maine town of Medway.
Hundreds of people packed a church for Rossignol's funeral in St. Agatha. Gov. John Baldacci telephoned Rossignol's parents to express his condolences and pledge the state's commitment to the investigation, a spokesman said.
We're more "morally diverse," too.
and my personal favorite, 9. Oaf.
Can't disagree with you!
Maybe I was too hard on the minister fellow - but where is the sense of responsbilty? Where is the sense of loss for the murder victims?
"I'm sorry that he made those decisions"?
What kind of talk is that? The killer is a THUG through and through.
I agree with you. I live here man, and I dont want some do-gooder/even a benevolent minister/ shipping cons from Vermont to my town. Jesus.
Have been involved in various aspects of prison ministry for almost ten years - have been blessed to witness some miraculous transformations, and of course the other side of the coin is heartbreaking reverses.
Satan works over-time to keep souls from slipping out of his grips, and the bottom line is that we have free will and either believe the "father of lies" or reject him and claim victory through Jesus.
BTW - there is nothing at all "Liberal" about me - I am what is considered (by the MSM) to be a "right-wing fundamentalist nut-job".
Execution for murder. It's the right thing to do.
(And not after 15 years of costly stupid appeals, either.)
I commend you for your efforts but I think a double murderer deserves to be executed, not rehabilitated.
This story doesn't compute.
It says he "stole a pickup truck," but for all we know he thought he was just borrowing the family transportation where he found himself, stuck out in the sticks somewhere. He was probably dry and went into town to get a drink. It's not clear from the story whether he hurt the woman or not.
I agree that it was foolish to take a violent criminal and stick him into a family like that, but what did they expect? If there's any hope for a released criminal it has to involve being in some sort of half-way house situation until he has his head together and some sort of job to occupy his time and support himself. They weren't doing themselves or society any favors by doing what they did, and they weren't doing the released criminal any favors either. I don't know if there was any hope that he might have reformed himself, but if so, this was not the way to handle it.
"That is the reason He is called 'Christ the Redeemer' rather than 'Christ the Moron Driving Around in a Volvo With a "Be Nice to People" Bumper Sticker on It.' "
All I know is I live close to where this happened. Do you want convicted murderers being brought to your neighborhood?
I'm guessing there were house rules.
And I'm guessing that one of the house rules was "Don't take the truck without permission."
Also, just a stab in the dark here, I'd also guess one of the conditions of parole was: "No Drinking".
Just a wild jump to a conclusion - but I'd venture that following laws and rules wasn't high on Hanson list of personal priorities.
Stealing and drinking seemed to come in a tad higher.
Yes, that is why I mentioned "claiming victory through Jesus", not through Ken, or JimBob, or whoever.
But does He needs someone to tell them the Good News, that's where we come in.
But of ourselves we are nothing, the Father doeth the works.
I think these ministers come from the perspective of "forgiveness" though and "redemption." My take is similiar to yours though in that God can forgive and redeem but I want the killers dead.
Who would go into a Court and demand that the judge forgive them because the Bible calls for forgiveness?
Executing the guy after the first murder would have saved at least one life, maybe more. There is only one way to prevent murderers from killing again, and that is to execute them.
"Stealing and drinking seemed to come in a tad higher."
Don't forget well-watered tarts, too.
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