A Connecticut panel denied early parole Friday for a man convicted in a notorious 1991 ambush-style killing of a Connecticut State Police trooper during an early morning burglary of a gun shop.
Members of the state's Board of Pardons and Paroles questioned whether Duane Johnson, who was 18 years old at the time of the crime and is now 52, has done enough to rehabilitate himself while in prison. They also cited the heinous nature of the shooting and how it has affected the family of Trooper Russell Bagshaw, who was 28 when he was killed, as well as the state and the nation.
“This has had a profound impact,” said board member Robert Cizauskas of the case, noting the panel received an unusually large number of letters from across the country, urging members to deny Johnson's request under a state law which allows a parole hearing for those who commit crimes when they are under 21.
Bagshaw was on routine patrol when he was shot and killed inside his police cruiser by Johnson's older brother Terry, who is serving a life sentence. On Friday, Duane Johnson acknowledged his culpability in the crime, saying his actions contributed to Bagshaw's death even though “I never pulled the trigger that day.”
Bagshaw's widow, Carol, who opposed Johnson's early parole, noted that he had alerted his brother that a trooper had shown up at the scene that morning.
“If not for this action, perhaps my husband wouldn’t have been murdered because guns were loaded in anticipation of a confrontation,” she said.
Russell Bagshaw's twin brother Robert spoke of how his brother's life was needlessly cut short and how the loss devastated the family, which was already reeling from the death of their mother a couple months earlier. He said the murder also impacted the greater police community.
“This was a horrific yet avoidable crime, not only committed against my twin brother, but against Connecticut law enforcement, which he was so proud to represent,” he said.
