Killer Walks Free 30 Years After Vicious Murder of Neighbor

by Patricia A. Miller

November 12, 1985. Almost 30 years ago to the day, 15-year-old Shawn Milne lay in wait in the swampy woods near the Goose Creek in Toms River.

He was waiting for his 13-year-old neighbor Barbara Renee Harrison. Unfortunately, their paths crossed. Milne picked up a board studded with nails and beat the young girl on the head so brutally her head was swollen almost beyond recognition.

He raped her so viciously she had a vaginal hemorrhage. He raped her anally. He struck her so hard one of her kidneys was lacerated. Then he threw the helpless girl into the creek, where she drowned.

On Saturday, 45-year-old Shawn Milne will walk out of South Woods State Prison a free man. He has done his time. He will not have to report to a parole officer, because he served his entire sentence, said Matthew Schuman, a spokesman for the state Department of Corrections.

He will have to register as a sex offender, since he was incarcerated during the time Megan’s Law went into effect.

His looming release has outraged many, who still recall that awful day in Toms River so many years ago.

Schuman wants the public to know that the state Department of Corrections has nothing to do with Milne’s release. The department must follow the directions of the judiciary, in this case the late Ocean County Superior Court Judge William H. Huber.

“The Department of Corrections has nothing to do with how long an inmate serves,” he said. ”The issue really has to go back to the judiciary.”

Judge Huber sentenced Milne to serve a full 30 years in state prison for the murder. He added another 20 years for the aggravated sexual assault, but imposed no minimum of time to be served before Milne could be released, Schuman said.

And that means that Milne’s ”commutation time” factors into when he can be released. Commutation time means time off for good behavior and consideration of how many days Milne served in jail before he was convicted, he said.

“If you don’t have a sentence with a minimum amount of time, you are eligible for commutation relief,” he said.

The exact time of Milne’s release will not be made public, to avoid turning it into a “media circus,” Schuman said.

The DOC also has a number of ”re-entry” programs available to inmates who have served a long period of time. But Schuman did not want to detail what, if any programs Milne has taken advantage of or where he will head when he is released.

“His sentence is completed,” Schuman said. ”He’s free to do whatever he wants.”

But the sentence for the Harrison family is lifelong. Barbara Renee Harrison - forever 13 - lies in the Ocean County Memorial Park in Toms River.

To read Patch’s earlier story on the Harrison murder, click here.

Photo credits: Shawn Milne, New Jersey State Department of Corrections. Barbara Renee Harrison’s last class picture at Toms River Intermediate School East is courtesy of the Harrison family.