A retired town of Poughkeepsie police detective who now serves as a state senator was outraged by the placement of paroled murderer Edward Kindt in that community. State Sen. Rob Rolison, a Republican and former mayor of Poughkeepsie, told the Mid-Hudson News he learned of the plan to release Kindt to a halfway house there on March 30. “We immediately began to contact local law enforcement officials such as the Dutchess County District Attorney’s Office as well as state officials at (New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision) to confirm and gather more information,” Rolison told Mid-Hudson News. The news outlet’s online headline to the article stated: “Paroled Killer Dumped in Poughkeepsie After Being Turned Away From Other Counties.” Having confirmed that Kindt, who raped and murdered Penny Brown in Salamanca on Mother’s Day in 1999, had been turned away from other locations, Rolison was critical of the DOCCS. “This illustrates a fundamental breakdown in Albany’s misguided criminal justice policies,” he said. “Equally as disturbing was the lack of communication from the state and its decision to release this individual into the community without proper notification, including no outreach to local law enforcement.” Kindt was released from Elmira State Correctional Facility on March 30 and quietly placed in Dutchess County. DOCCS said that Kindt will be required to wear a GPS monitoring device while staying at Exodus House in Poughkeepsie. Kindt interviewed with the Parole Board in February and the members voted 2-1 to set him free. He was originally slated to be placed in Cattaraugus or Chautauqua counties, leading to public outcry from residents, state Sen. George Borello, R-Sunset Bay, and Assemblyman Joseph Giglio, R-Gowanda. In addition, the Seneca Nation banned Kindt, a Seneca, from all tribal property for at least one year. DOCCS then decided to place him in Poughkeepsie in a “structured residential contracted program.” Kindt, 39, was 15 when he attacked and killed Brown, a nurse, midwife, wife and mother of two while she was jogging on the Pennsylvania Railroad Trail with her two dogs. Her body was discovered the next day. When he was convicted in 2000, Kindt was sentenced to nine years to life in prison, the maximum sentence allowed by state law at the time. Kindt, incarcerated for 24 years since the murder, had been up for parole every two years for several years, but had always been rejected until the latest time around. Rolison vowed to maintain contact with local law enforcement to monitor the actions and behavior of Kindt while he is in the halfway house. The Mid-Hudson News reported that U.S. Rep. Marc Molinaro, a former Dutchess County executive, also weighed in on Kindt’s relocation to Poughkeepsie, saying, “Penny Brown’s family says New York’s system failed them. I agree. Soft on crime laws in New York are eroding public safety and have allowed our justice system to become a revolving door for repeat criminals.” Borrello also said this week he would continue to keep tabs on Kindt, even though the parolee was placed outside of his Western New York Senate district. “Prison is the only appropriate residence for a monster like this and the only option that keeps innocent New Yorkers safe,” Borrello said. “I will continue to be vigilant in monitoring this situation and standing up for the safety of my constituents and all New Yorkers.” There was also a chance Cattaraugus County would have been Kindt’s home upon release. Jeff Miles, an Olean resident who owns the New Lantern Motel west of Allegany, told the Olean Common Council Tuesday that his business received a reservation from the state parole board with an expected arrival date of Wednesday. “I’m not allowing that person to come here,” Miles said, adding he contacted the state and declined the reservation. “They gave us a little bit of an attitude, but it is what it is.” Salamanca, where Kindt and Brown lived near each other, is within the boundaries of the Seneca Nation’s Allegany Territory. Seneca Nation President Ricky Armstrong, Sr. signed an executive order Tuesday requiring Kindt to be removed from Seneca Territory, with the cooperation of law enforcement, if he returns. Kindt is 39 years old, the same age as Brown when she was murdered.
A retired town of Poughkeepsie police detective who now serves as a state senator was outraged by the placement of paroled murderer Edward Kindt in that community.
State Sen. Rob Rolison, a Republican and former mayor of Poughkeepsie, told the Mid-Hudson News he learned of the plan to release Kindt to a halfway house there on March 30.
“We immediately began to contact local law enforcement officials such as the Dutchess County District Attorney’s Office as well as state officials at (New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision) to confirm and gather more information,” Rolison told Mid-Hudson News.
The news outlet’s online headline to the article stated: “Paroled Killer Dumped in Poughkeepsie After Being Turned Away From Other Counties.”
Having confirmed that Kindt, who raped and murdered Penny Brown in Salamanca on Mother’s Day in 1999, had been turned away from other locations, Rolison was critical of the DOCCS.
“This illustrates a fundamental breakdown in Albany’s misguided criminal justice policies,” he said. “Equally as disturbing was the lack of communication from the state and its decision to release this individual into the community without proper notification, including no outreach to local law enforcement.”
Kindt was released from Elmira State Correctional Facility on March 30 and quietly placed in Dutchess County. DOCCS said that Kindt will be required to wear a GPS monitoring device while staying at Exodus House in Poughkeepsie.
Kindt interviewed with the Parole Board in February and the members voted 2-1 to set him free. He was originally slated to be placed in Cattaraugus or Chautauqua counties, leading to public outcry from residents, state Sen. George Borello, R-Sunset Bay, and Assemblyman Joseph Giglio, R-Gowanda. In addition, the Seneca Nation banned Kindt, a Seneca, from all tribal property for at least one year.
DOCCS then decided to place him in Poughkeepsie in a “structured residential contracted program.”
Kindt, 39, was 15 when he attacked and killed Brown, a nurse, midwife, wife and mother of two while she was jogging on the Pennsylvania Railroad Trail with her two dogs. Her body was discovered the next day.
When he was convicted in 2000, Kindt was sentenced to nine years to life in prison, the maximum sentence allowed by state law at the time. Kindt, incarcerated for 24 years since the murder, had been up for parole every two years for several years, but had always been rejected until the latest time around.
Rolison vowed to maintain contact with local law enforcement to monitor the actions and behavior of Kindt while he is in the halfway house.
The Mid-Hudson News reported that U.S. Rep. Marc Molinaro, a former Dutchess County executive, also weighed in on Kindt’s relocation to Poughkeepsie, saying, “Penny Brown’s family says New York’s system failed them. I agree. Soft on crime laws in New York are eroding public safety and have allowed our justice system to become a revolving door for repeat criminals.”
Borrello also said this week he would continue to keep tabs on Kindt, even though the parolee was placed outside of his Western New York Senate district.
“Prison is the only appropriate residence for a monster like this and the only option that keeps innocent New Yorkers safe,” Borrello said. “I will continue to be vigilant in monitoring this situation and standing up for the safety of my constituents and all New Yorkers.”
There was also a chance Cattaraugus County would have been Kindt’s home upon release.
Jeff Miles, an Olean resident who owns the New Lantern Motel west of Allegany, told the Olean Common Council Tuesday that his business received a reservation from the state parole board with an expected arrival date of Wednesday.
“I’m not allowing that person to come here,” Miles said, adding he contacted the state and declined the reservation. “They gave us a little bit of an attitude, but it is what it is.”
Salamanca, where Kindt and Brown lived near each other, is within the boundaries of the Seneca Nation’s Allegany Territory.
Seneca Nation President Ricky Armstrong, Sr. signed an executive order Tuesday requiring Kindt to be removed from Seneca Territory, with the cooperation of law enforcement, if he returns.
Kindt is 39 years old, the same age as Brown when she was murdered.