Police officer's family asks public help to block killer's parole
Officers’ family effort to block parole effort
With a deadline for a decision later this month, the family of St. Paul police officer James Sackett is urging the public to oppose parole for the man convicted of killing him.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - The family of a St. Paul police officer killed in the line of duty is calling on the community to help keep his convicted killer behind bars.
Family seeks support to oppose parole for convicted killer
What we know:
James Sackett was shot and killed while responding to a fake call for help at a home on Hague Avenue in St. Paul on May 22, 1970, leaving behind a wife and four young children.
More than three decades later, a jury convicted Ronald Reed of murder and conspiracy to commit murder in Sackett’s death, and a judge sentenced him to life in prison.
Unfair and unjust
What they're saying:
Julie Sackett, who was just 14 months old when her father was killed, spoke about the ongoing pain her family faces.
"We are constantly fighting to try to find justice," Sackett told FOX 9.
Sackett’s family is concerned that Reed, sentenced under laws from 1970, could be released after his latest parole hearing on Aug. 11.
"It's disturbing to our family. He had 35 years of freedom. We haven't had any freedom. We're 56 years into this, and we're still not free," said Sackett.
For decades, the Sackett family lived with uncertainty.
"For 35 years, our family didn't have any answers. For 35 years we wondered if we were going to walk by the killers on the street in the East side of St. Paul," said Sackett.
'We have to go through this every two years'
Local perspective:
The Sackett family feels the parole process brings up the trauma of losing the husband and father over and over again.
"We're the victims in this case. Why are we having to relive this for the rest of our lives?" said Sackett.
The family is now asking the public to send letters to the Department of Corrections Supervised Release Board to keep Reed in prison.
"I think this is unfair, unjust. If we have to go through another parole hearing, we're going to do it and we're gonna fight every single time," said Sackett.
Public comments can be emailed to Mnparoleinput.doc@state.mn.us by 4 p.m. on July 21.
The backstory:
Reed was convicted in 2006, 35 years after Sackett’s death, following years of unanswered questions for the Sackett family.
The parole process is happening because Reed was sentenced under laws from 1970, which make him eligible after serving two decades.