Virginia Inmate, Once On Death Row, To Be Freed

RICHMOND, VA — Joseph Giarratano was convicted of the 1979 rape and capital murder of 15-year-old Michelle Kline and the murder of her mother, Toni Kline, in Norfolk, Virginia. But in 1991 — two days before he was slated for execution in the electric chair — Gov. L. Douglas Wilder commuted his sentence. Now, he'll walk out of prison a free man.

On Monday, Giarratano was granted release by the Virginia State Parole Board, The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.

Giarratano, a part-time fisherman, had been living with the Klines and initially confessed to murdering them. He later said he awoke in the apartment to find the bodies and couldn't recall what happened. During his decades in prison, he's become a prominent jailhouse attorney and polarizing figure.

Wilder said at the time that the widespread support for Giarratano did not influence his decision. The case had garnered national and international attention from celebrities, liberal and conservative commentators, religious and political figures, and others who raised questions about his guilt, the newspaper reported.

The parole board's decision is not a comment on an inmate's innocence claim, nor is it "an act of forgiveness," chairwoman Adrianne Bennett said.

Members of the victims' family couldn't be reached by the newspaper for comment. The prosecutor in the case and the judge who found him guilty have since died.

Attorney Stephen Northup, who represented Giarratano before the parole board, said: "For all the reasons that caused Gov. Wilder to give Joe a conditional pardon more than 26 years ago, I believe Joe is innocent of the crimes for which he was convicted."

According to the Times-Dispatch, Giarratano has kept a relatively low profile behind bars in recent years. He has lost a leg to diabetes and is an inmate at the Deerfield Correctional Center in Capron, where many aging and ill inmates are held.

But that wasn't always the case.

In 1984, Giarratano assisted in the escape of six death row inmates but didn't flee, according to the newspaper. He was stabbed by another inmate and sent to a prison in Utah in 1996 for his own safety.

He has been published in The Yale Law Journal and helped get legal representation for Earl Washington Jr., an inmate who came close to being executed for a rape and murder that years later DNA proved was committed by someone else.

Northup said his client had compiled a "remarkable record" during his nearly 40 years in prison.

"His release will pose no risk to public safety and will enable the outside world to benefit from his extraordinary skills and intelligence," Northup said.

It may take a month before Giarratano is freed, according to Bennett, the parole board chairwoman.

Photo credit: Lindy Keast Rodman/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP