Gov. Brown Sides With Napa DA, Reverses Parole Of 1993 Murderer

NAPA COUNTY, CA — At the urging of Napa County District Attorney Allison Haley, California Gov. Jerry Brown has reversed a state Board of Parole's decision to grant parole to an 80-year-old man convicted of the April 23, 1993 murder of his wife in Angwin, Haley's office announced in a news release this week. Robert Shippmann, who has served nearly 25 years of his 15-years-to-life sentence for the shooting death of his 28-year-old wife Juli Mathis Shippmann, had his fifth parole hearing Sept. 28, 2017. When the state board decided to grant his release, Haley's office appealed the decision, Napa County Assistant District Attorney Paul Gero told Patch.

Shippmann remained in custody while the board's decision was reviewed, Gero said. When Brown ultimately agreed with the District Attorney’s viewpoint that Shippmann currently poses an unreasonable danger to society if released from prison, it was "unusual," Gero said.

The Napa County District Attorney’s Office sends a representative to every parole hearing for an inmate serving a life sentence that results from a Napa crime.

"For many years most murderers from Napa, their parole was denied," Gero said. "... This is sort of a huge deal for us that the governor decided to reverse the decision."

According to the DA's office, although the governor did acknowledge that Shippmann had no disciplinary record during his almost 25 years of incarceration, Brown noted that Shippmann lacks insight into the factors that led him to commit what the Governor described as a "cold and calculated" murder.

Shippmann and his wife were separated at the time and Shippmann had been served with a valid restraining order protecting Juli, Haley said.

According to Shippmann, he talked her into taking a drive to discuss their relationship, including his belief that she was having an affair. He drove her to an isolated area in Angwin, where he shot her three times, first in the chest, then in the head. He then shot himself several times in the chest; however, he survived his injuries.

Shippmann could not articulate why Juli was scared enough to obtain a restraining order against him, Haley said. He said that her reasons remained a "mystery" to him, the DA said.

"Shippmann lacks insight into the factors that led him to commit what the Governor described as a 'cold and calculated' murder," Haley said.

"Most important, Governor Brown emphasized that Shippmann’s version 'does not account for
disturbing aspects of the crime,'" Haley continued. "Shippmann claimed that Juli agreed to take a drive into the hills with him to 'talk.' He could not, however, explain why she left her truck’s engine running and the door open."

According to the DA's Office, the governor also had a hard time believing the Shippmann's claim that he brought a .22-caliber rifle to 'talk' with his wife about her perceived infidelity, and pointed out that Shippmann "still minimizes his history of domestic violence and he still has rather limited insight into this crime."

Juli was survived by her mother, Joanne Wilson, her father, the late John Mathis, her brother Jeff, her sister Joelle, and her aunt Bonnie Sears.

When the DA's office informed Juli's mother of the reversal, they say she was gratified to hear that Brown understands the danger Shippmann continues to pose.

"We are extremely pleased with the Governor’s decision and remain deeply committed, even in the face of a Board of Parole Hearings grant, to fighting on behalf of victims," Haley said.

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