December 18th, 2008
Earlier today I told you about Dale Dean Finch, who is up for parole in February. He killed teens Michael Pixler and Randall Morton on Christmas Eve 1976. With today’s online story, we included a link to electronic petitions. So far, more than 170 people have filled out the petition to keep Finch in prison. I can’t remember that strong of a response on the first day … actually in the first seven hours.
December 18th, 2008
Three years ago I got a call from Shirley Pixler Guthrie, the mother of murder victim Michael Pixler. Shirley told me about Dale Dean Finch, who shot her son and Randall Morton execution style Christmas Eve 1976. The teens (Michael was 17; Randy was 16) were at work at a Rockford gas station. Finch stole $600, too.
Finch, 20 at the time, was sentenced to two consecutive 50- to 100-year terms for the murders and four to 12 years for the robbery. His next parole hearing is scheduled for Feb. 3, 2009.
I had just started in my job with rrstar.com, and Shirley needed help. We helped then by writing stories, editorials and offering online and print petitions for our readers to sign. To be fair, we offer petitions for and against parole. Hands down, 99 percent of people didn’t want Finch to get out of prison. Last time, Finch was denied parole.
Finch is up for parole again in February 2009. Sentencing laws back then were different than they are now. At each parole hearing, the Illinois Prisoner Review Board can vote to review the case in a year or hold off for as many as three years.
So, it’s that time again. I got a call from Shirley a few weeks ago asking if we planned to cover Finch’s hearing and if we would again offer the online petitions. We published this story today on rrstar.com. A print version will be in Friday’s newspaper.
You can learn more about this case by taking a look at our special report. You’ll find links to the online petitions, too.
I was interviewed by Editor & Publisher earlier this year about our practice of telling readers about upcoming paroles. We’ve done petitions for other victims, namely Joey Didier, Louise Betts, Michael Mayborne and the Nelson children.
It’s an important public service that we do. We are the voice for the voiceless. And this, to me, is one of the most important things I’ve done as a journalist. So, Shirley, we would be glad to help again and get the word out.
December 5th, 2007
At this writing, nearly 2,100 people have signed electronic petitions on rrstar.com requesting that Robert Henry Lower remain in prison for murdering Joey Didier in 1975. Several hundred of you have faxed petitions to the Register Star. The response is huge considering it’s only been three days since we published a story in our online and print editions. The petitions — we offer you a choice to reject or support his parole — here.
Aaron Chambers, our Springfield bureau chief, went over to the Illinois Prisoner Review Board and scanned several documents, including Lower’s confession. (You can read a post about this on our Editorial Board’s blog, A Seat at the Table.) I can’t even begin to tell you what’s in that letter. Most of it is so graphic, I can’t share it here. Joey was delivering our newspaper when he was abducted. It’s 32 years later, and it’s one of our region’s most horrendous crimes. I can write that with certainty based on the response we’ve gotten so far from those of you who believe Lower should not be paroled.
