Lakewood Police Massacre: Suspect Maurice Clemmons paroled by Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee

Maurice Clemmons, a suspect in the massacre of four Lakewood, Washington police officers, was paroled in 2000 by former Arkansas Governor, 2008 Republican Presidential candidate, and current Fox News television host Mike Huckabee. 

According to The Seattle Times, Clemmons's "criminal history includes at least five felony convictions in Arkansas and at least eight felony charges in Washington. That record also stands out for the number of times Clemmons has been released from custody despite questions about the danger he posed."

One of those releases came in 2000 from the pen of then-Governor Huckabee despite animated protests from prosecutors. "This is the day I've been dreading for a long time," declared Larry Jegley, prosecuting attorney for Arkansas' Pulaski County, in reference to Clemmons's possible involvement in the Sunday massacre of Lakewood police officers. As for the commutation of Clemmons by Huckabee, Jegley told CNN, "It was not something I was pleased with at the time."

In 1989, Clemmons was sentenced to 95 years in prison for a multitude of crimes that included robbery, burglary, theft, and for possession of a firearm at a school.

According to CNN, Huckabee cited Clemmons's young age, 17, at the time of the sentencing as one of the factors in his commutation. Clemmons was paroled in August 2000 after only serving 11 years of his 95 year sentence.

According to The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Clemmons was arrested again the following year for aggravated robbery and theft, however, "he was not served with the arrest warrants for the robbery and theft charges until he left prison three years later, in 2004."

As a result, his attorney claimed "charges should be dismissed because too much time had passed by then." Apparently, prosecutors agreed and dropped the charges against Clemmons.

Clemmons recently went from "a person of interest" to a "suspect" in the multiple murders of police officers Sgt. Mark Renninger, 39, and officers Ronald Owens, 37, Tina Griswold, 40, and Gregory Richards, 42, and was fired by one of the officers.
 

According to a press release from Huckabee's office, if Clemmons is found to be responsible for the shootings, "it will be the result of a series of failures in the criminal justice system in both Arkansas and Washington State."

According to The Seattle Times, Huckabee had long history of pardoning and requesting clemency for criminals during his ten years as governor of Arkansas. Indeed, Jegley had complained about the governor as far back as 2004 when he declared, "It's a crying shame that a sitting governor would be so insensitive to victims' rights."

One of the more notorious parolees released at the behest of Huckabee was castrated rapist Wayne DuMond. After his early release from prison in 1999, DuMond was arrested and convicted for the 2000 murder of Carol Sue Shields.

Below you can view a video ad about the Huckabee/DuMond/Shields case that was particularly "devastating" to Huckabee's 2008 Presidential aspirations.

CORRECTION: The headline for this article accidentally listed that Mike Huckabee "pardoned" Clemmons while the article stated that the former Arkansas governor commuted his sentence which led to his parole. The correction has been made. 

Corey Mitchell is a critically acclaimed Los Angeles Times best-selling author of several true crime books including Dead and Buried, Pure Murder and Hollywood Death Scenes. He is also the founder of the premiere true crime website, In Cold Blog, executive producer for a new true crime television series, and a former Hollywood crime expert and blogger for the Discovery Channel. He can be reached at truecrimewriter@aol.com.

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