'Killer Poet' Norman Porter Makes Another Plea For Freedom
NATICK (CBS) - He was once dubbed, "Killer Poet" in a documentary film. At a hearing Thursday, Massachusetts Parole Board member Charlene Bonner called Norman Porter "a tale of two cities."
Porter used his command of language to try to persuade the parole board to give him a shot at freedom after two murders, a high-profile prison escape, and two decades as a fugitive.
"I would like to express my deep sorrow," he said. "If it was in my power to swap places with them to avoid all of the sorrow that all of us have felt, and the pain of all of these years, I would."
Porter was convicted in the 1960 shooting death of store clerk John Pigott in Saugus. While awaiting trial, he was involved in the shooting death of Middlesex Jail Master David Robinson. In that case, Governor Michael Dukakis commuted his sentence. In 1985, Porter escaped from prison, and was later captured living as a celebrated poet in Chicago in 2005.
"He had 20 years away from prison. My uncle is still in the grave," said David Robinson's nephew, Peter Robinson.
Nancy Bray is the daughter of John Priggot's fiancée. "He's been on escape longer than he's been back in jail," she said.
Victims' relatives were emotional as they spoke after the hearing. "He is smart. He is manipulative, and he is inconsistent in his stories," said Robinson's great grand-nephew Jeffrey Robinson.
But Porter has an unlikely assortment of supporters, including the state epidemiologist, and former Department of Corrections Associate Commissioner David Haley. "I think he's in the back-end of the third chapter of his life. I think his health issues are significant. He's not been involved in a violent incident since 1960 or '61," said Haley.
The Parole Board has rejected Porter's pleas for freedom twice in past years. This time, a decision could take weeks or months.