| | AP Interview: Fugitive hid 40 years in plain sight | |
| | Author | Message |
---|
KK
Location : New York Super Powers : poastwhore Number of posts : 8316 pennies : 7853 Rep : 354
| Subject: AP Interview: Fugitive hid 40 years in plain sight Tue Jun 15, 2010 9:32 am | |
| AP Interview: Fugitive hid 40 years in plain sight HELENA, Mont. – The aging Frank Dryman, a notorious killer from Montana's past, had hidden in plain sight for so long that he forgot he was a wanted man.
In an exclusive jailhouse interview with The Associated Press, Dryman detailed how he invented a whole new life, with a new family, an Arizona wedding chapel business — and even volunteer work for local civic clubs.
"They just forgot about me," said Dryman, in his first interview since being caught and sent back to the prison he last left in the 1960s. "I was a prominent member of the community."
That is, until the grandson of the man he shot six times in the back came looking.
Dryman had been one step ahead of the law since 1951 when he avoided the hangman's noose, a relic of frontier justice still in use at the time.
Less than 20 years later he was out on parole. Not content with that good fortune, he skipped out and evaded authorities for four decades. After a while he even forgot about hiding and signed up for V.A. benefits from his days in the Navy in 1948.
Now the 79-year-old Dryman is back behind bars, likely for what remains of his life.
He was caught only after his long-ago victim's grandson got curious and started poking around.
Dryman was hitching a ride from Shelby cafe owner Clarence Pellett on a cold and snowy day in 1951 when he pulled a gun and ordered Pellett out of his own car and began firing.
Dryman does not deny the crime — just that he's not the same man today. He has been Victor Houston for decades. At the time of the murder, and after being discharged from the Navy for mental issues, he was going by yet another name: Frank Valentine.
"That kid, Frank Valentine, he just exploded," Dryman says of his crime. "I didn't shoot that man in the back. That wild kid did. That's not me.
"Victor Houston tried to make up for it by being an honor citizen."
Dryman says he served his time, which he did until paroled. But a Montana Parole Board not accustomed to leniency on those who walk away from supervision was not impressed with Dryman's subsequent good deeds. Last month the board sent him back behind bars to serve what remains of his life sentence.
Dryman said he disappeared from parole in California to get away from a wife he didn't like. He said he's not sure why he just didn't leave the wife and remain on parole.
But once gone, he said, he didn't look back. His new wife and family knew nothing of his past. He put down roots in Arizona City painting signs, a trade learned in prison, and performing weddings.
"I never thought I was a parole violator. I was Victor Houston. I never looked over my shoulder," Dryman said. "I just forgot about it."
On his birthday he used to get two cards from his brother: one for Houston and one for Valentine.
"I thought it was cute. I had no fear," Dryman said.
He said the details of his past are just coming back: the shooting, his original sentence and the cause he became for opponents of the death penalty, and his first stint in prison.
"Only since I have been back here did I start to think about it," said Dryman. "To be honest, I didn't even remember the victim's name."
Dryman understands he is not likely to get out again now. And he is not kindly disposed to the victim's grandson, the Bellevue, Wash., oral surgeon who became intensely interested in a piece of family history he knew nothing about. Clem Pellett compiled reams of old documents and tracked down his grandfather's killer with the help of a private investigator.
"I can't blame him for what he did," Dryman said. "But I think it was so wrong he spent so much money getting me here. I feel it is unfair."
Many in the Pellett family do remember the murder. A dozen descendants showed up at the parole hearing when Dryman was rearrested to testify against his release, saying the killing had forever changed the history of the family.
They said as kids they lived in fear of hitchhikers — even in fear of Dryman. Some remembered Dryman's courtroom outburst at his first trial that resulted in conviction and a hanging sentence.
"He turned to the judge and said, 'I'm going to kill you,' he turned to the jury and said 'I am going to kill you' and he turned to the crowd and said some stuff like that," said Clem Pellett. "He was an angry young man who felt powerless."
Pellett only learned the details of the case last year after cleaning out boxes of old newspaper clippings. His own parents never talked about the murder. He had never even really known the Montana side of his family, where the pain of the killing still lingers.
Pellett, without even talking to those relatives, began a quest to learn more, compiling old records, court transcripts, ancient arrest records for Dryman's petty crimes prior to the shooting — all of which he used to track down his grandfather's killer.
Pellett said he was driven by an intense curiosity, and would now like to meet with Dryman to fill in holes in the story that he may chronicle in a book.
Dryman doesn't think he will agree to the meeting.
He also denounces the allegation that he made a courtroom death threat, which Clem Pellett said was confirmed through his research.
Dryman lives in a low security wing of the Montana State Prison, wears prison-issue clothing and due to failing eyesight walks with a cane to avoid tripping. Being interviewed in the same parole board room where was he returned to prison for life, Dryman said of Clem Pellett, "He's already got me here, he should be happy. I think they got their pound of flesh, and I accept it."
One of the original prosecutors in the case also never forgot about Dryman.
"It was a very notorious case, perhaps the biggest of the time," said John Luke McKeon, now 85.
McKeon, a very young assistant attorney general assigned to the case despite his own opposition to the death penalty, said the Montana Supreme Court threw out the hanging sentence amid some of the most intense arguments over the death penalty the state had seen.
McKeon wrote a letter to the parole board in late May asking for leniency, telling the board he thinks Dryman has paid for his crime. But it got there after the board made its decision.
The former prosecutor doesn't see any way out for Dryman this time.
"I don't think the governor's going to give him exoneration," he said. "I think he is going to die in prison." | |
| | | c/thru
Blurts : What is this decade called ? Location : almost Mile High Hobbies : Freedom Tracker Humor : floating under a delicate layer of apathy Super Powers : can turn water into ice Number of posts : 3049 pennies : 3303 Rep : 123
| Subject: Re: AP Interview: Fugitive hid 40 years in plain sight Tue Jun 15, 2010 11:14 am | |
| this is something our country needs to take a harder look at...if someone is discharged from the military for mental illness ...why do they just dump them back into general population without supervision ? | |
| | | KK
Location : New York Super Powers : poastwhore Number of posts : 8316 pennies : 7853 Rep : 354
| Subject: Re: AP Interview: Fugitive hid 40 years in plain sight Tue Jun 15, 2010 3:54 pm | |
| - c/thru wrote:
- this is something our country needs to take a harder look at...if someone is discharged from the military for mental illness ...why do they just dump them back into general population without supervision ?
it would infringe on their rights or some nonsense like that | |
| | | Sponsored content
| Subject: Re: AP Interview: Fugitive hid 40 years in plain sight | |
| |
| | | | AP Interview: Fugitive hid 40 years in plain sight | |
|
Similar topics | |
|
| Permissions in this forum: | You cannot reply to topics in this forum
| |
| |
| Latest topics | » the last person the person here wins by Admin Sun Jun 26, 2011 10:38 pm
» Interesting stuff by KK Sat Jun 25, 2011 8:54 pm
» Random Stuff... by Jats Sat Jun 25, 2011 5:58 pm
» anyone still here ? by KK Fri Jun 10, 2011 6:01 pm
» Happy Birthday C/Thru!! by Lady Snipe Dragon Fri Jun 03, 2011 12:51 pm
» vintage movie gifs by Jats Thu May 26, 2011 8:46 pm
» Oprah Memorial service by Joebert Wed May 25, 2011 5:54 pm
» Bristol Palin earns $262K for teen pregnancy work by Joebert Wed May 25, 2011 1:31 am
» whatever you feel like by Joebert Tue May 24, 2011 10:21 pm
» Trumped by Joebert Tue May 24, 2011 10:08 pm
» pick a royal wedding hat by Joebert Tue May 24, 2011 10:01 pm
» so which one of you wants to throw down? by KK Thu May 19, 2011 7:37 pm
» the photo of the year's wiki page by alivegenieII Wed May 18, 2011 6:13 pm
» Congratulations on popping C9's flaming & smite war cherry by Lady Snipe Dragon Tue May 17, 2011 11:29 pm
» President 0bama’s approval rating hits a new low by KK Sun May 15, 2011 5:32 pm
» New Books on Ward by alivejeanie Sat May 14, 2011 3:25 pm
» New Holidays ? by Lady Snipe Dragon Mon May 09, 2011 8:50 pm
» Fleamailman, care to explain this ? by c/thru Sun May 08, 2011 10:25 pm
» Happy Mothers Day.. by c/thru Sun May 08, 2011 8:12 pm
» SuperBowl countdown by Guest Sat May 07, 2011 10:14 pm
» International Womens Day 2011 by Guest Sat May 07, 2011 10:06 pm
» wuzz up suckas by KK Sat May 07, 2011 9:40 pm
» INTELLIGENCE REFORM AND TERRORISM PREVENTION ACT of 2004 by KK Sat May 07, 2011 8:39 pm
» Victron Energy and their Portfolios by KK Tue May 03, 2011 7:47 pm
» I voted today by KK Tue May 03, 2011 7:45 pm
» Flax Milk & your omegas by KK Tue May 03, 2011 7:43 pm
» Happy Easter 2011 by Lady Snipe Dragon Thu Apr 28, 2011 1:37 am
» Spanish scientists search for fuel of the future by KK Fri Apr 22, 2011 7:31 pm
» Amen !!! VIP LINKS by KK Fri Apr 22, 2011 7:28 pm
» Youtube changed their type of linking codes.. by c/thru Fri Apr 15, 2011 10:07 pm
» YOU balance the Federal Budget by c/thru Fri Apr 15, 2011 10:05 pm
» Interesting Images.. by c/thru Fri Apr 15, 2011 10:00 pm
» Avacs by KK Tue Apr 12, 2011 10:13 am
» Oil near $112 as attacks damage Libyan oil fields by KK Mon Apr 11, 2011 10:52 am
» Stamp gaffe tears Kate and William apart It may come as a shock, but Kate Middleton and Prince William have 'split' less than one month before they are due to tie the knot. by KK Tue Apr 05, 2011 9:45 pm
|
|