Bevin commutes Kentucky Death Row inmate’s sentence to life in Lexington slayings
More than three decades after a Lexington man went to Death Row in connection with three murders, Gov. Matt Bevin commuted his sentence in one of his last acts before leaving office late Monday.
Bevin reduced the death sentence against Leif C. Halvorsen to life in prison. It was one of hundreds of pardons and commutations that Bevin issued during his final two days in office. More than 390 of those were “conditional commutations,” an unprecedented action that shortens the sentences of individuals if they fulfill specific requirements.
Bevin’s decision means Halvorsen, 65, will be entitled to a parole hearing after being under a death sentence nearly his entire adult life.
Halvorsen’s attorney, David M. Barron, cited the “unique and inspiring story of redemption” Halvorsen has crafted on Death Row in petitioning Bevin to commute his sentence.
Barron said Halvorsen has completed two college degrees while at the Kentucky State Penitentiary, helped raise money for poor children and worked to calm agitated inmates at times, likely preventing attacks on prison staffers and inmates.
Halvorsen also renewed his Catholic faith and has spoken to at-risk young people as part of a program aimed at getting them to steer clear of bad choices.
Young people have said the program helped inspire them to change their lives. The petition included examples of people improving their grades, entering drug treatment and joining the Army National Guard after taking part in the program.
“Listening to your story made me realize that if I don’t change something about my life, I could end up somewhere close to where you are now,” one young person wrote to Halvorsen, according to the petition.
Halvorsen was the only person under a death sentence the warden allowed to be on the panel of inmates who spoke with students.
Barron said he had spoken with Halvorsen about the commutation and he is “very grateful for the opportunity to continue to live his natural life trying to help other individuals.”
The prosecutor who handled Halvorsen’s trial in 1983 could not be reached for comment Wednesday, but former Commonwealth’s Attorney Ray Larson slammed Bevin’s decision to commute Halvorsen’s sentence, calling it disgusting.
“BEVIN SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF HIMSELF,” Larson said on his Facebook page.
Larson, referring to the Halvorsen case and others, said Bevin “trampled on crime victims, police, prosecutors, jurors, judges and all Kentuckians who believe in the rule of law. Bevin’s pardons & commutations are a final parting insult to our state by this guy. SHAME ON HIM!”
Halvorsen and Mitchell Willoughby, now 61, were convicted in the January 1983 shooting deaths of three people at a residence on Loudon Avenue in Lexington.
Halvorsen had been a sheet-metal worker, but fell apart after his wife left him and their two young daughters, he claimed in one appeal motion.
Dealing with the stress of caring for his kids as a single father without much money, Halvorsen began abusing drugs, ultimately losing his job, his home and his family, the motion said.
The day of the murders in January 1983, Halvorsen and Willoughby, a carpenter, went to do drugs at the home of Joe Norman, according to court records.
Willoughby believed Norman had given him a cold check for some work he’d done. As they argued, Norman poked him in the chest and threatened him with a bayonet and Willoughby pulled a pistol and started shooting, according to a court document.
Willoughby shot Norman, 28; his girlfriend Jacqueline Green, 19; and Joey Durrum, 23.
Halvorsen, high and paranoid on a mix of cocaine, marijuana, a painkiller and other drugs, also shot Durrum and Greene before Willoughby shot both again in the head.
Halvorsen later testified he was scared that Willoughby might shoot him if he didn’t take part in the shootings, according to his federal appeal.
Halvorsen and Willoughby tried to dispose of the bodies at a bridge on the Jessamine-Mercer County line, but botched the job, throwing Greene into the Kentucky River with a weight bound to her but leaving the men’s bodies on the bridge.
A witness saw Halvorsen’s blue Ford van at the bridge and police were able to track down he and Willoughby.
Halvorsen received two death sentences and one life sentence in Norman’s death. Willoughby also was convicted and sentenced to death.
Halvorsen argued in appeals that his convictions and sentences were improper for a number of reasons, including that his attorney didn’t properly develop a defense based on his impairment by drugs.
However, he has not denied taking part in the killings, according to his clemency petition.
The deep remorse Halvorsen felt over the crimes after getting clear of drugs drove him to try to help others, his petition said.
“My years in prison have been spent reclaiming my life from the ashes of its ruins,” Halvorsen wrote in a separate magazine article.
Barron asked Bevin to drop Halvorsen’s sentence to life without the possibility of parole, sparing him from possible execution but keeping him in prison the rest of his life.
Bevin went further, however, reducing Halvorsen’s sentence to life.
Bevin texted Barron about his decision at 10:02 p.m. Monday, about two hours before his term ended, and Barron called him back.
Bevin said in his order that Halvorsen “has a powerful voice that needs to be heard by more people.”
“I’m very pleased and grateful that the governor has recognized Leif Halvorsen’s nearly four decades of efforts to demonstrate remorse, build reconciliation and attempt to use his life situation and story to save other lives and turn other lives around,” Barron said.
Halvorsen had unsuccessfully asked two previous governors, Democrats Brereton Jones and Steve Beshear, to commute his sentence before Bevin, a Republican, acted on the petition.
This story was originally published December 11, 2019 at 1:54 PM.
