MURDERERS SEEKING
New bills would give first-degree killers a chance at parole
Notorious first-degree murderers — with legislators working for them — are pushing a Massachusetts bill that would abolish life-without-parole sentences, enraging families and friends who lost loved ones to killers.
Lifers led by Dirk Greineder, the Wellesley doctor who murdered his wife in 1999, promoted the concept. First-degree murderers would be retroactively eligible for parole hearings after 25 years under a bill introduced by state Rep. Jay Livingstone (D-Boston). Another bill by state Sen. William Brownsberger (D-Belmont) would make future first-degree murderers eligible for parole after 35 years — instead of the current mandatory life without the possibility of parole.
“It’s so, so sickening,” said Terry Titcomb of Charlestown, whose son was murdered 25 years ago. “You commit murder — you’re done. You don’t deserve a second chance at life. You don’t deserve to ever walk the streets again.”
Her grandson Aaron Titcomb was 18 months old in 1994 when his father, Albert, was shot in the back of the head by Shawn Fritz — who’s serving life for firstdegree murder. Fritz killed Albert over a $50 debt.
The proposed bill is putting families like the Titcombs through the “torture” of reliving the tragic loss of life, Aaron Titcomb said.
“I didn’t get the chance to know my father,” he said, shedding tears. “I had no opportunity to make memories with him … learn about his best memories in life.”
The Lifers’ Group Inc. at MCI-Norfolk and bill supporters on Beacon Hill argue that inmates can reform after decades, and show they’re deserving of returning to society.
Members of the Lifers’ Group recently wrote a model bill with advocates outside the prison, submitting it to Massachusetts legislators who adopted language to abolish life-without-parole.
Greineder, the Lifers’ Group vice chairman, helped write the prototype legislation with Nat Harrison and Lloyd Fillion — who are working with the Criminal Justice Policy Coalition on this effort.
“Lifers’ Group Inc. believes that all people deserve a second chance,” reads the prison group’s annual report.
“We’re not arguing to open the gates for everybody after 25 years,” Fillion said. “Some people will never get out, but I’m confident