Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, facing widespread anger from police chiefs and victims' advocates, pleaded for patience as his administration reviews of the state Parole Board's decision to free a violent career criminal who shot and killed a Woburn police officer last week, the Boston Globe reports. House Speaker Robert DeLeo expressed outrage at the board's decision and vowed to make it a “major focus'' of legislative action.
Patrick said, “The thing that, for me, gets lost in this [ ] is that we jump immediately to the recriminations, and we forget there's a human tragedy there, a family that's been upended.'' A visibly angry DeLeo sharply questioned the Parole Board's decision and said the case “cries out'' for a remedy, either from the governor or the Legislature, to ensure that convicts serving multiple life sentences cannot be paroled. “When I read three life sentences, that just grabbed me, and I said, 'Why are we even having this discussion?' '' DeLeo said.