Convicted Canton killer denied parole for third time

Convicted Canton murderer Rod Matthews will remain behind bars for at least the next five years after the state parole board rejected his latest bid for release, marking the third time since 2001 that he has been denied a request for parole.

In its decision, handed down earlier this week, the board determined that Matthews, now 44, has not been sufficiently rehabilitated, nor would his release be compatible with the welfare of society. The board also stated its belief that Matthews could benefit from a longer period of “positive institutional adjustment and programming.”

Rod Matthews (center) testifies during his parole hearing in March. (Patriot Ledger pool photo)

One of the state’s most notorious teen killers, Matthews was only a high school freshman when he lured his chosen target, Shaun Ouillette, into a wooded area in Canton known as “the pits” and ambushed him with repeated blows to the back of the head with a baseball bat. He later bragged about the act to two of his classmates and took both in the ensuing days to view Ouillette’s lifeless body, which authorities discovered three weeks later, frozen and ravaged by animals.

At his most recent parole hearing in late March, Matthews expressed deep regret for his actions and insisted that he was no longer that “14-year-old, troubled, angry kid” that once posed a threat to society.

“I understand why I murdered Shaun, and I know I will never hurt anyone again,” he told the board during his nearly two-hour testimony.

Matthews also took full responsibility for Ouillette’s murder, a fact that he said took years of intensive therapy and inward reflection to accept. He concluded that it was his inability to process his emotions and to cope with the turmoil in his home life — including his father’s repeated extramarital affairs — that had led him to lash out and fueled his “obsession” to kill.

Two experts, forensic psychologist Dr. Robert Kinscherff and criminologist Dr. James Alan Fox, also testified on Matthews’ behalf, with both claiming that he has changed considerably in the years since the murder.

However, while the board took into consideration the fact that he was a juvenile when the crime was committed as well as the “unique attributes” of youth offenders, it ultimately found that Matthews had not demonstrated a sufficient level of “rehabilitative progress” and extended his prison term for at least the next five years — the maximum allowed by law before he would be eligible for parole again.

Canton Police Chief Ken Berkowitz, who testified against Matthews’ release at the hearing in March, applauded the board’s decision in a statement issued Tuesday afternoon.

“Rod’s actions continue to victimize Shaun’s family,” said Berkowitz. “Every time he goes for parole he reopens the wounds that his heinous act has caused so many people in our community. In my opinion, he is where he belongs: prison. The risk that he will reoffend is too great to take a chance on letting him out.”

As for Ouillette’s mother, Jeanne Quinn, the decision by the parole board not to release her son’s killer grants her yet another temporary reprieve. “It feels like 100 pounds just dropped right off my chest,” she told the Citizen in a telephone interview.

A fierce advocate for her son’s legacy for the past 30 years, Quinn said she was pulling into the Canton Center train station on Tuesday morning when the victim services coordinator called her with the news. But for a long time leading up to that phone call, she had been an emotional wreck, she said.

Jeanne Quinn holds a portrait of her son Shaun outside the parole board office.

“These past four or five weeks, I have been literally falling apart,” she said. “I have never, ever waited anything close to this long [for a decision].”

Quinn had been in the room and addressed the board when Matthews first went for parole in 2001, and she was there again in 2007. She was also there in March when Matthews appeared for a third time, and she plans to return five years from now, when he will next be eligible for parole.

Admittedly, Quinn said she had “no confidence” that the board would deny the parole request, having seen other instances where a dangerous inmate was released only to harm another innocent life.

“I was petrified that they were going to let him out,” she acknowledged. “It was in somebody else’s hand. I can’t trust that.”

At the same time, Quinn said she is thrilled with the decision and full of gratitude — not only to the board members for denying the request, but also to her countless supporters, from Chief Berkowitz and the district attorney’s office, to the hundreds of people from around the globe who wrote letters to the parole board on her behalf.

For today at least, Quinn said she can set aside her “armor” and rest comfortably knowing that Matthews is still behind bars.

“I’ll put away my armor for a while,” she said, “and then I’ll take it out again when another parent of a murder victim asks me to go [a parole hearing].”

“My armor’s there for the sake of them,” she added. “There’s no peace in this. This is fighting. This is keep your eyes and your ears open and keep yourself open. You never know what this kid can do.”

Related coverage:

Matthews to parole board: not that ‘troubled, angry kid’

Mom of murder victim finds peace with help from boy

Ceremony honors legacy of slain CHS student

A Mother’s Nightmare: Jeanne Quinn’s story

For CPD officer, parole board shakeup brings hope, opens old wounds

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Posted by Jay Turner on Sep 30 2016. Filed under News, Police & Fire. Both comments and pings are currently closed.