Released from a New York prison despite the parole board’s recommendation that this murderer be kept locked up, Scott Kratlian murdered again, but since he did it in California and not New York, the conditional release program can claim another success
By Richard Krupp, PhD
PACOVILLA Corrections blog
November 26, 2015
On a few occasions I have read commentaries about two interesting points of view that I have not agreed with.
The first often cited evidence/opinion is that murderers are not known to commit serious crimes when released after several years in prison.
The second often cited evidence/opinion is that the state of New York has a relatively low recidivism rate for inmates released from prison.
I always found both of these theories suspicious. It is true that a man who murders his wife will probably not murder her again after being released, but he can kill someone else. I recall an inmate I interviewed who was sentenced to prison for murdering his third wife. He had served two prior prison terms for killing his first two wives.
As far as the state of New York is concerned, prison releases and parole violations may be viewed a little differently there. I do not believe they have a better class of criminal there or that inmates are rehabilitated in New York prisons.
A recent story from the Los Angeles Times brings both of my suspicions to light:
New York parolee sentenced to 56 years to life for killing L.A. pen pal, 82
A New York parolee who exchanged letters from prison with a retired Hollywood teacher was sentenced to 56 years to life in prison Wednesday for killing his pen pal after he was freed. Scott Kratlian, 46, was convicted of first-degree murder last month for killing former Hollywood High School teacher Harry Major in February 2014.
Three months after he was released from prison, where he served 20 years for murder, Kratlian showed up in Hollywood and briefly lived with Major, 82, before strangling him. The relationship between the convicted killer and Major probably was one of many the inmate fostered over the years while imprisoned at Marcy Correctional Facility outside Syracuse, one of Kratlian’s other pen pals, Jason Ward, told The Times last year.
Authorities said Kratlian was released from prison two days before Thanksgiving, less than a year after a state parole board determined that his crime had been so horrific that releasing him would be to “undermine respect for the law.”
In 1992, Kratlian used a belt to kill a man, tying the victim’s hands and feet together and beating and burning him, parole board records show.
In prison, Kratlian had a “horrendous” disciplinary record, and his conditional early release was delayed more than four years because of infractions, according to records. He eventually was released under the state’s conditional-release program — a separate avenue that doesn’t require parole board approval.
New York officially listed Kratlian as a fugitive Feb. 14 after police identified him as their suspect. He was arrested by an LAPD and FBI fugitive task force at a Pasadena mental health and substance-abuse treatment center Feb. 18, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department records show (for full story read http://tinyurl.com/oqwqj5l.)
There are several things troubling about this incident.
1) The New York parole board evidently felt this murderer should not be released from prison.
2) Evidently in-prison behavior does not count when it comes to release from prison.
3) Apparently in New York the parole board can be circumvented through a “conditional release” program.
4) Conclusively the rehabilitative programs in New York (adopt a prison pen pal) and in California (mental health and drug treatment) did not prevent this murderer from murdering again.
Is this case typical? I don’t know, but it is disturbing.
Theories about isolated incidents and miracle rehabilitative programs sometimes don’t look so good when examined closely. Since this murderer did not commit a crime in New York would he be considered a “conditional release program” success?
Because the murderer was found in a mental health/drug treatment center does that mean he has an addiction problem that can explain away his murderous behavior? Perhaps he can be cured so that he won’t murder others again and again.
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