by Denise Hnytka (WICHITA, Kan)
Thousands of signatures and a dozen voices. They all spoke up today to keep the man convicted of kidnapping a nine-year-old girl behind bars.
Donald Wacker is up for parole in December. He was an accomplice to the man who raped and killed Nancy Shoemaker in the summer of 1990.
"We want to keep another child from going through this," said Julie Shoemaker, Nancy's step-mother. Shoemaker was among the first to speak to a parole board Monday.
Julie, alongside family and friends told the board that they think about Nancy every day. Nancy was only a block away from her home, on her way to the store when she was kidnapped and murdered. It's a crime her family wants Donald Wacker to pay for every bit as much as they've paid.
"We are all living that nightmare every day," said Nancy's mother Susan Canoll. "The accompanying pain is every bit as real today as it was in 1990."
This is Wacker's third chance at parole. He's already served 17 years behind bars. For the Shoemakers, staying there is as much about Nancy as it is about the safety of other children.
"We want the max," said Bo Shoemaker, Nancy's father. "We want no parole."
Besides their emotional pleas, the Shoemakers also made a logistical one. Where would Wacker live and work if he were set free? The shoemakers presented the board with a map of all the schools and parks within two miles of Wacker's parents house, where he would most likely return.
Wacker was not present for the hearing, but his parents spoke to the parole board. They talked about his childhood growing up on a farm and asked the board to consider the fact that Wacker didn't have a previous criminal history.
Fact Finder 12 shows the factors the parole board will use when deciding Wacker's fate. There are ten things taken into consideration and all are weighed evenly.
1. The crime itself is evaluated.
2. Whether the inmate had a prior criminal history.
3. What programs Wacker participates in inside prison.
4. Disciplinary reports from inside prison.
5. His physical and mental health.
6. Public comment like this hearing is considered.
7. The prison population is a factor.
8. What prison staff has to say about Wacker.
9. His risk assessment outside of prison.
10. Proportionality. That compares Wacker's sentence in 1992 to what he would have been sentenced to today.
