Police travel to Springfield to stop parole of cop killer

[Jace]

Chicago officers on way to cop killer's parole hearing

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2...e-hearing.html

Twenty-five Chicago police officers are on their way to Springfield by chartered bus this morning to lend weight against the parole of a cop killer.

The 13-member state parole board is scheduled to vote later today.

Charles Connolly, 65, is serving a prison sentence of up to 150 years for murdering Officer Thomas Kelly and wounding his partner, Tom Neustrom, after they stopped a suspicious car on the South Side in March 1970. At the time, the two were on a break to pick up tuxedos for Kelly's upcoming wedding.

Connolly shot Kelly, 26, between the eyes and Neustrom, 23, in the chest and back. Connolly walked around the car to finish off Neustrom, but his gun had run out of bullets.

Connolly is one of about 10 inmates convicted in Cook County of the murder or attempted murder of police officers who, under outdated sentencing laws, still have a chance of getting out of prison.

In recent years, as these cases get older--and relatives and partners can no longer attend--police are making an effort to ensure the officers are still represented at parole hearings. Last week, a half dozen officers videotaped appeals to the parole board to deny Connolly freedom.

Connolly originally was sentenced to die in the electric chair, but 15 months after the jury's decision the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the death penalty unconstitutional. Connolly was resentenced to 75 to 150 years in prison.

He denied his guilt at trial, but at a 2006 clemency hearing admitted it, saying he was drunk after celebrating his birthday.

He has been up for parole a number of times since then and has been turned down each time.