By pardoning rapists and killers, former governor Matt Bevin showed us who he really is

Joseph Gerth | Courier Journal

Show Caption Hide Caption Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin issues pardons, commutations for hundreds Using his executive powers, Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin issued hundreds of pardons and commutations during his last days in office in 2019.

It’s only been a few days since Matt Bevin left office, and more and more people are finally seeing who he really is.

We knew he was a mercurial narcissist with little respect for the people or traditions of Kentucky.

Now we know he is one who has put the citizens of this state in jeopardy with his use of the gubernatorial pardon to free killers and child rapists and others who have broken our laws. Some of these people have barely been locked away long enough to make dents in their prison mattresses.

Now, he says they’re rehabilitated.

Don’t get me wrong, some of the pardons and commutations were good.

Bevin should get credit for freeing those locked up for long stretches for minor drug crimes and he gets praise for commuting the sentence of former death row inmate Gregory Wilson, whose prosecution was a textbook case for what is wrong with capital punishment and why it should be abolished.

In fact, he should have gone further and commuted the sentences of all death row inmates and set their terms at life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Perhaps no one deserved a pardon as much as community activist Christopher 2X, who decades ago was convicted of drug possession and receiving stolen merchandise but has repaid his debt to society many times over.

Related: 'Matt Bevin can rot in hell': Family of murder victim reacts to pardon of donor's relative

More: Matt Bevin pardons son of legislative supporter who gave him money

Also: 'Am I perfect? No.' Matt Bevin defends controversial pardons, attacks 'offensive' reports

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But many of Bevin’s other pardons hint at corruption or just bad judgment. The fact that he and his staff won’t explain to the people of Kentucky, beyond the few words in the orders granting release and a tweet storm early Friday evening, what he was thinking is troubling.

Look at this list:

Patrick Brian Baker, who shot and killed a man in a home invasion five years ago. Bevin freed him after Baker’s family hosted a political fundraiser for Bevin in 2018, raising $21,500 for him that went directly to Bevin to repay himself money he loaned his 2015 election campaign.

Dayton Jones, who was convicted of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy at a party with a foreign object, causing internal injuries and then posting a video of it on the internet, according to the Kentucky New Era in Hopkinsville.

Micah Schoettle, who was convicted last year of raping a 9-year-old child in Kenton County and sentenced just last year to 23 years in prison. Not only is he free from prison, but he won’t have to register as a sex offender, a status designed to help law enforcement and neighbors — and possible victims — track his movements.

Delmar Partin, who in 1994 in Knox County, killed his former lover then chopped off her head and placed her body in a 55-gallon drum destined for a toxic waste site.

Kathy Harless, who was sentenced to life in prison after she gave birth in a Grayson County flea market outhouse and threw the baby in a cesspool. Bevin wrote that she had "paid enough for the death of her newborn son.”

Blake Walker, who was convicted in 2003 in Adair County of killing his parents and leaving their bodies in a basement. He was 16 at the time.

Irvin Edge, who hired a hit man to kill his business partner in Daviess County.

Kurt Robert Smith, who was convicted in 2002 in Fayette County of the murder of his 6-week-old baby. The child’s brain was so swollen that the seams between the bones in his skull were pushed half an inch apart, a state medical examiner testified.

Daniel Scott Grubb, who threw a cinder block at a friend in Knox County, killing him, then enlisted a friend to bury the body.

Michael Hardy, who was convicted in Warren County of the 2014 wanton murder of Jeremy Pryor.

Christian Moffett, the drug-dealing, gun-toting, burglarizing son of former state Rep. Phil Moffett, who has numerous convictions over the past three years – some of them this past April. Phil Moffett contributed $1,000 to Bevin in 2015 and 2019.

In the tweet storm, Bevin took all responsibility for the pardons and said he personally investigated the criminals he set free.

"I have read hundreds of pages of court transcripts and witness testimony as well as documents related to appeals that were filed in a few cases," he wrote.

He said in the tweets that he didn't release anyone in exchange for contributions and "not a single person was released who had not already been scheduled for a specific release date or who was sentenced with the eligibility to be considered for early release."

He conveniently left out the fact that some of those he paroled were at the very beginning of their terms and had many years left before that "specific release date." For instance, Baker had 17 more years to serve.

And despite conducting his own investigations, he didn’t have the courtesy or decency to even notify prosecutors about what he was doing so they could let the victims and their families know what was happening.

News: Kentucky lawmakers call for special prosecutor to investigate Gov. Matt Bevin's pardon

Read this: Senate President Robert Stivers wants feds to investigate Matt Bevin's pardons

With the pardons, killers like Baker, Partin, Harless, Walker, Edge Smith, Grubb and Hardy, have been allowed to walk out of prison and can legally now purchase guns.

Sexual predators like Jones and Schoettle will be able to move into homes next door to you and your family and they won’t have to report to police where they’re living, and you may never know the danger that lurks next door.

He issued more than 400 pardon’s and commutations in the last days of the administration. They were rushed out so quickly several of them include simple grammatical errors, such as referring to a female as “him.”

As word of the pardons has spread, Bevin has been pilloried on social media. He couldn’t even mention his son’s birthday on Wednesday without a torrent of critical comments — some of which included a warning from Twitter that they included offensive language.

In a Facebook post, Lexington lawyer Stan Cave, a former state representative and a top aide to former Republican Gov. Ernie Fletcher, didn’t hold back.

“You’d have thought that Matt Bevin would have thought more of crime victims and of his staff who sacrificed and served him valiantly not to have embarrassed them with this ignorant pardon stuff,” he said. “But not this narcissistic condescending temper tantrum throwing know it all. I am sorry for the victims out there and for Bevin’s staff who will feel tarnished by this for the rest of their lives.”

Elsewhere: Ex-Bevin campaign manager distances himself from former governor's controversial pardons

Last night: 'You are not KY.' Matt Bevin ripped by Twitter users angry over pardons

People often ask what Bevin’s plans for the future include. After the embarrassing loss to Andy Beshear when all other Republicans on the ballot won in landslides, could he be considering another run for the U.S. Senate?

It’s hard to imagine after these pardons, which will put guns back in the hands of violent criminals and allow child rapists to live in homes next to parks and cruise elementary schools (something prohibited by Kentucky sex offender laws), that Bevin would run for any office again.

He has to understand that we all know who he really is.

Joseph Gerth can be reached at 502-582-4702 or by email at jgerth@courierjournal.com. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/josephg.