Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, August 6, 1993 TAG: 9308060201
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Ed and Esther Whitlock got a letter from the state last week.
It said one of the men who murdered their daughter just three years ago was being released from prison - next month.
"We just couldn't believe it," said Ed Whitlock.
The man, Ronald Lee Henderson, was supposed to be serving three life terms for the slaying. The Whitlocks, who live in Roanoke, had hoped he would never be paroled.
Henderson and another man, Tommy David Strickler, abducted Leann Whitlock outside a shopping mall in Harrisonburg, where she was attending James Madison University.
They took her to a wooded area in Augusta County, stripped her of her clothes and killed her by repeatedly dropping a 69-pound rock on her head.
She was 19.
Strickler, now 28, was sentenced to death. He had been portrayed as the ringleader in the crime. Henderson, 27, also was charged with capital murder, but he was convicted of first-degree murder.
Both of their trials attracted statewide attention.
Afterwards, the Whitlocks requested that the state notify them when Henderson came up for parole. They expected a long wait.
But last week, a letter arrived from the Virginia Department of Corrections. It informed them that Ronald Henderson was being released "via mandatory parole" from prison on Sept. 13.
The Whitlocks spent the weekend in turmoil.
Under state law, mandatory parole is awarded automatically to inmates six months prior to the end of their sentence. However, inmates serving life sentences are not eligible for mandatory parole.
This week, the Whitlocks discovered that the state had made an error.
There are four Ronald Hendersons in Virginia's prison system. The Whitlocks were mistakenly notified of Ronald Bernard Henderson's release, not Ronald Lee Henderson's release.
"He's not about to be released anytime soon," said Ben Hawkins, executive assistant to the director for the Department of Corrections. "They may never release him."
In fact, Ronald Lee Henderson is not eligible for parole at all until 2007.
The letter sent to the Whitlocks did not list Henderson's middle name. Nor did it include information about his age or what crime he committed or where he had been convicted.
All it listed was his first and last name, his release date and his prisoner number.
Ed Whitlock said that his and his wife's initial reaction was disbelief. But they were disturbed that it still might be true.
The news also came as a shock to Augusta County Commonwealth's Attorney Lee Ervin, who prosecuted Henderson. Ervin said that if Henderson was being released, he would have been notified. He had not received any letter from the state.
Hawkins, at the Department of Corrections, said Ronald Bernard Henderson was convicted of cocaine possession in Arlington in 1991. He was sentenced to five years in prison, partially suspended.
He also is a year younger than Ronald Lee Henderson and is black. Ronald Lee Henderson is white.
Hawkins said this was the first mistake of its kind that anyone could remember at the Department of Corrections. He said he regretted the error.
"Whatever happened, we're going to fix it," he said.
At the Division of Community Corrections, which processed the letter to the Whitlocks, it was unclear Thursday what happened.
Gene Johnson, deputy director of the division, said it probably was a clerical error. Somehow, the request from the Whitlocks ended up in the wrong Ronald Henderson file.
"I can see how it could happen," Johnson said.
His office processes 600 prison releases a month. "When they saw that this person wanted to be notified, they notified them," he said. It is Department of Corrections policy to notify the local prosecutor, sheriff and judge when a state prisoner is released who either was convicted in their jurisdiction or plans to live in their jurisdiction.
Families are notified only on request.
The official notifications also are much more detailed than the one the Whitlocks got. They include an inmate's age and race, the date of the crime, the type of sentence and where the person was convicted.
Both Johnson and Hawkins agreed it would be prudent to include some of this information on the family notifications to prevent future mishaps.
"That's no problem to correct," Johnson said.
A formal letter of apology will be sent to the Whitlocks, he said. "I don't know anything more we can say."
For the Whitlocks, just knowing that the right Ronald Henderson will remain in prison is something. A day after learning of the mistake, Ed Whitlock said his spirits and his wife's spirits were much better than a week ago. "Oh, last night, she was so happy."
by CNB