Louisiana’s Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, has pardoned 40 convicted murderers as he nears the end of his term, according to multiple reports.
Edwards’ term ends on Jan. 8, 2024. In his final weeks in office, he has been working on helping his state lose the title of being the World’s Prison Capital, according to the New York Post. He will reportedly release a total of 56 convicts in “separate batches.”
"For as long as I can remember, Louisiana reflexively responded to an increase in crime by putting more people in prison and keeping them there longer," Edwards told local news outlet NOLA.com this month.
"We've never been made safer as a result of that," Edwards added. "There is no data to suggest that an increase in crime here was because of the reforms."
Fox News noted that in the past three months, a total of 40 convicted murderers were pardoned by Edwards. Released inmates have also been convicted of aggravated arson, possession of Schedule II narcotics, aggravated kidnapping, theft, first-degree robbery, perjury, and armed robbery.
Edwards began signing his pardons on Oct. 11. According to the Post, 11 of the 40 jailed murderers were convicted in the first degree, which is “those who killed a human being with the specific intent to kill or inflict great bodily harm and engaged in the preparation of the crimes that led to the killing.”
Outgoing Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards pardons 40 murderers — including man who stabbed store worker 39 times https://t.co/6xTYBSWb4i pic.twitter.com/pdCyqWjFNf
— New York Post (@nypost) December 23, 2023
Ricky Washington, 65, was reportedly found guilty of fatally shooting a grocery store owner during an armed robbery in Shreveport in 1979. The victim, Grady Haynes, was shot once in the back of the head by Washington. Washington faced the death penalty, but the jury did not come to a unanimous decision, and he was sentenced to life in prison. He was pardoned by Edwards on Dec.13, according to KTBS.
On Dec. 19, Edwards pardoned Nick Charles Nicholson, who was convicted of first-degree murder for stabbing a woman named Kelly Ann Gramm in August 1981. Gramm was reportedly discovered with 39 stab wounds across her body and had the broken tip of a knife in her skull. Nicholson was arrested when police found him in his vehicle with blood on his clothes and a cash register next to him. He also faced the death penalty, but was sentenced to life in prison, KTBS reported. The Post added that the Louisiana Department of Corrections lists Nicholson as “out of custody” as of Dec. 23 at 3:26 a.m.
Another murderer who is set to be freed is Frederick Kirkpatrick, who was arrested for killing a man named Steve Joseph Radoste inside Radoste’s home in Pearl River, Louisiana. In his trial, Kirkpatrick reportedly claimed that he killed Radoste in self-defense after he made “homosexual advances toward him and his friend accomplice Charles Faulkner,” the Post reported. Kirkpatrick inflicted head injuries, stab wounds, and a fatal gunshot to Radoste. He also robbed his home and set it ablaze.
The Post noted that Kirkpatrick was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death. A study conducted by the Loyola University of New Orleans College of Law found Kirkpatrick was off of death row by 2019.
Edwards will be succeeded by Jeff Landry, a Republican, who served as the state’s attorney general.