NEWS

July 20, 2007
Inmate loses chance for commutation

Gov. Chet Culver has decided that Jesse Masterson, who killed a man in Hiawatha in 1981, will remain in prison, records show.

Masterson, 63, is serving a life sentence for first-degree murder at the Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison in southeast Iowa. He's in prison for stabbing to death Donald Schmidt on July 8, 1981, in Hiawatha.

He also assaulted Schmidt's girlfriend and forced her to drive him to his ex-wife's house, records show.

In a June 21 letter to the Board of Parole announcing his decision, Culver wrote that Masterson "is to be commended for the work he has done during incarceration... However, I am troubled by Mr. Masterson's failure to take responsibility for his actions toward the woman he assaulted on the night of the murder until very late in the commutation process."

Culver decided that commutation would not be justified. If a commutation is granted in a case that means the sentence is changed to a term of years and the inmate can get out of prison when a parole is granted. Otherwise, people who are serving life terms in Iowa will spend the rest of their lives in prison.

Since taking office earlier this year, Culver has denied five inmates' request for commutation. Five other cases are pending as of Tuesday.

The governor looks at four criteria before commutation is considered: whether or not the applicant is a risk to the public's safety, whether or not the release would weaken the deterrent effect of the scheduled punishment on other people in similar situations, rehabilitation and retribution -- basically whether the inmate has suffered from the punishment.

Jesse Masterson is a prison hospice volunteer at the Iowa State Penitentiary and appears in Prison Terminal.

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