FAYETTEVILLE -- A murderer sentenced to life in prison as a teen almost 40 years ago has been paroled.
James Dean Vancleave, 55, of Springdale was convicted of capital murder for killing 23-year-old Debra King. He was 16 when he killed King on Jan. 29, 1978, at a convenience store on Elm Springs Road.
Teen Lifers
Washinton County had three teen-lifers whose sentences and parole eligibility have been affected by court rulings. In addition to James Dean Vancleave, they are:
• Christopher Segerstrom was 15 on July 26, 1986, when he took Barbara Thompson into a wooded area behind the Lewis Plaza Apartments several blocks west of the University of Arkansas. He sexually assaulted her before hitting her head with a 40-pound rock, crushing her skull, and suffocating her. He had promised to help the child catch butterflies. Circuit Judge Mark Lindsay resentenced Segerstrom on May 3, 2017. He is in prison and eligible for parole.
• Dennis Wayne Lewis was ordered released from prison because no valid sentencing options were available in his case. Lewis, 60, of Wichita, Kan., was convicted of capital murder and assault with intent to rob. Lewis was 17 years and 5 months old when he killed Jared Jerome Cobb at Cobb’s Western Store and Pawn Shop in Springdale during an armed robbery April 8, 1974. Lewis was discharged from the Arkansas Department of Correction on Oct. 25, 2016.
Source: Staff report
Vancleave stabbed King 16 times, slashed her hand 11 times and tried to slash her throat with a small hunting knife to get $30 from her purse. The cash register wasn't touched.
Motions to transfer the case to juvenile court or change the venue because of media coverage were denied. Vancleave was convicted July 24, 1978. Prosecutors sought the death penalty, but the jury returned life without parole.
Prosecutor Matt Durrett opposed parole for Vancleave.
"I'm certainly disappointed in the parole board's decision to release Mr. Vancleave," Durrett said Wednesday. "I opposed it. The sheriff opposed it. Debra's family opposed it. I think everybody but the defendant and the parole board opposed his release."
Durrett said he's not aware of any programs Vancleave completed in prison demonstrating any sort of rehabilitation and he has seen no evidence of rehabilitation while working on the case.
"To my knowledge, at no time has this defendant ever shown remorse for what he did. I know in the two-plus years I've been dealing with this case he hasn't," Durrett said. "Perhaps he did in front of the parole board. I hope so. I would hate to think that the perpetrator of such a vicious crime would be released into our community without at least a showing of remorse for the life that he took."
A parole address of 3506 Scott Lane, Springdale, is listed on the notification. Raymond Lee and Connie Vancleave bought the home in 1987. Ownership changed hands a couple times through the years between Raymond Vancleave and Winfred Wayne Jr., who is listed on county records as the present owner.
Durrett said a jury decided Vancleave should spend the rest of his life in prison and he continues to believe that was the correct sentence.
"I feel for Debra's family. No amount of time has been able to ease to pain of losing a loved one, especially in such a violent manner," Durrett said. "They were able to take comfort all these years knowing that her killer would never get out. Now that's gone. I wish we could have done more for them."
Washington County Circuit Judge Mark Lindsay in April decided Act 539, a new, retroactive state law, eliminated the sentence of life without parole for juvenile offenders and created a more age appropriate punishment, bringing Arkansas in line with recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings regarding teens sentenced to life.
Lindsay resentenced Vancleave to the now statutory maximum of life with the possibility of parole after serving 30 years.
The Arkansas Department of Community Correction on Friday sent notice Vancleave had been paroled. He was being held at the state Department of Correction's Grimes Unit at Newport in Jackson County.
Rulings over the past couple years by the U.S. Supreme Court and Arkansas Supreme Court paved the way for juveniles serving life sentences to be paroled.
The U.S. Supreme Court struck down automatic life sentences with no chance of parole for teenage killers more than four years ago in Miller v. Alabama. The court didn't say if the ruling applied retroactively. Justice Elena Kagan wrote the majority saying judges weighing prison terms for young offenders must take into account "the mitigating qualities of youth," including immaturity and the failure to fully comprehend the consequences of their actions.
The Arkansas Supreme Court ruled in June 2015 that Ulonzo Gordon should get a chance for resentencing in Crittenden County Circuit Court. Gordon was 17 when he was involved in the murder of a West Memphis man in 1995.
A divided U.S. Supreme Court said Jan. 25, 2016, the earlier ruling should be applied retroactively.
NW News on 03/29/2018