Sean Aylward's Testimony
On November 18, 1992, Richard Baldwin placed an aluminum baseball bat in his car and drove to Groveland. He had a plan, and he intended to see it through. He used a mutual friend to lure Beth Brodie from her home. Minutes later she was gasping her last breaths in my father’s arms, succumbing to two fatal blows to her head with that aluminum baseball bat.
You DON’T know what it’s like to stand here today and tell that very abbreviated story of Beth‘s murder. For years, I couldn’t tell it without crying. Some days, even the sight of a baseball bat made me upset. For years, we didn’t have to tell the story, people knew it but didn’t speak of it for fear of upsetting us. My sister, Dawn, kept it bottled up for years. In fact, I think she kept it in until two weeks ago, when she was the Keynote Speaker at District Attorney Blodgett’s Domestic Violence Roundtable. Now I tell this story nearly every day. Sometimes it makes me upset, but mostly it makes angry. Angry that I have to share a very private story with perfect strangers.
I tell this story in an effort to restore justice for Beth. Justice had been served back in 1994. Beth’s killer would spend the rest of his days safely locked away where he would never take another innocent life again.
Then the Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional to apply a MANDATORY sentence of life without parole for a juvenile…..MANDATORY they said! Massachusetts went on say that life without parole is ILLEGAL, mandatory or not. Then they went even further and said they’ll apply it retroactively.
I keep hearing “it’s cruel and unusual punishment” to put a juvenile away for life.
They committed MURDER! The penalty should be cruel --- and not unusual.
Fast forward 5+ months, and here we are. Me, begging you to correct that ruling, to keep actual juvenile killers in prison for life. ACTUAL KILLERS, not accomplices who were sentenced to life because it was the only sentence available. But ACTUAL KILLERS, who committed first degree murder. They have taken a life -- with extreme atrocity! The ultimate crime!
This ruling came from people who will NEVER be effected by it. Victim’s families are virtually powerless in this fight. We’re everyday people, hiding our sorrow behind an invisible veil. Victims are serving the death penalty, which by the way, is illegal in Massachusetts. Victim’s families are serving life sentences without their loved ones. And their killers may be set free by this ruling.
You have the power to fix this, and we’re here begging you.
Many of the bills you’ll hear today want parole eligibility moved to 20 years. In essence, you want to start rehabilitating on day one, so they’re ready for release 20 years later. That means 20 years of correction, and 0 years of punishment. 0 years of paying the price for committing the most heinous of crimes, MURDER, in the first degree. Horrible, violent, premeditated murder. This act is not a slip in judgment, or a mistake, they intended to kill all the while knowing they would go to prison for life…..they knew it!
Here in Massachusetts, you would serve 5 years for killing a dog. Do not get me wrong, I’m a dog lover and would never bring harm to one. 5 years for a dog, 20 for person? The seriousness in these two crimes is very different and so should the punishment. The ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) was founded in 1866. The MSPCC, Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, was founded in 1878. It took 12 years to learn we can’t hurt children.
It seems as though we’re stuck in the same rut. We’re outraged about how animals are treated, while we try to lessen the penalty for first degree murder based on arguable brain science. I’m no scientist, and I mean no disrespect to scientists, but their findings have been manipulated to fit this application. I’ll give you one example: If the brain is not fully developed till age 25, doesn’t that mean that ALL brains develop at the same rate and to the same level? In the news this past Sunday, 16yr old Grace Bush received her High School diploma and graduated from Florida Atlantic University in the same week. Grace started taking college courses at 13, and finished at 16, she earned her degree in 3 yrs! All the while attending high school. Clearly Grace’s brain didn’t develop the same way as yours and mine.
You’ve heard Beth’s story, and endured my rant. I’ll conclude by saying, murder in the first degree is not forgivable. Victims are not getting a second chance, no do-overs for them! Their killers shouldn’t either. Sentences of life without parole should be upheld and remain an option for judges to reserve for the worst crime…..murder.
You DON’T know what it’s like to stand here today and tell that very abbreviated story of Beth‘s murder. For years, I couldn’t tell it without crying. Some days, even the sight of a baseball bat made me upset. For years, we didn’t have to tell the story, people knew it but didn’t speak of it for fear of upsetting us. My sister, Dawn, kept it bottled up for years. In fact, I think she kept it in until two weeks ago, when she was the Keynote Speaker at District Attorney Blodgett’s Domestic Violence Roundtable. Now I tell this story nearly every day. Sometimes it makes me upset, but mostly it makes angry. Angry that I have to share a very private story with perfect strangers.
I tell this story in an effort to restore justice for Beth. Justice had been served back in 1994. Beth’s killer would spend the rest of his days safely locked away where he would never take another innocent life again.
Then the Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional to apply a MANDATORY sentence of life without parole for a juvenile…..MANDATORY they said! Massachusetts went on say that life without parole is ILLEGAL, mandatory or not. Then they went even further and said they’ll apply it retroactively.
I keep hearing “it’s cruel and unusual punishment” to put a juvenile away for life.
They committed MURDER! The penalty should be cruel --- and not unusual.
Fast forward 5+ months, and here we are. Me, begging you to correct that ruling, to keep actual juvenile killers in prison for life. ACTUAL KILLERS, not accomplices who were sentenced to life because it was the only sentence available. But ACTUAL KILLERS, who committed first degree murder. They have taken a life -- with extreme atrocity! The ultimate crime!
This ruling came from people who will NEVER be effected by it. Victim’s families are virtually powerless in this fight. We’re everyday people, hiding our sorrow behind an invisible veil. Victims are serving the death penalty, which by the way, is illegal in Massachusetts. Victim’s families are serving life sentences without their loved ones. And their killers may be set free by this ruling.
You have the power to fix this, and we’re here begging you.
Many of the bills you’ll hear today want parole eligibility moved to 20 years. In essence, you want to start rehabilitating on day one, so they’re ready for release 20 years later. That means 20 years of correction, and 0 years of punishment. 0 years of paying the price for committing the most heinous of crimes, MURDER, in the first degree. Horrible, violent, premeditated murder. This act is not a slip in judgment, or a mistake, they intended to kill all the while knowing they would go to prison for life…..they knew it!
Here in Massachusetts, you would serve 5 years for killing a dog. Do not get me wrong, I’m a dog lover and would never bring harm to one. 5 years for a dog, 20 for person? The seriousness in these two crimes is very different and so should the punishment. The ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) was founded in 1866. The MSPCC, Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, was founded in 1878. It took 12 years to learn we can’t hurt children.
It seems as though we’re stuck in the same rut. We’re outraged about how animals are treated, while we try to lessen the penalty for first degree murder based on arguable brain science. I’m no scientist, and I mean no disrespect to scientists, but their findings have been manipulated to fit this application. I’ll give you one example: If the brain is not fully developed till age 25, doesn’t that mean that ALL brains develop at the same rate and to the same level? In the news this past Sunday, 16yr old Grace Bush received her High School diploma and graduated from Florida Atlantic University in the same week. Grace started taking college courses at 13, and finished at 16, she earned her degree in 3 yrs! All the while attending high school. Clearly Grace’s brain didn’t develop the same way as yours and mine.
You’ve heard Beth’s story, and endured my rant. I’ll conclude by saying, murder in the first degree is not forgivable. Victims are not getting a second chance, no do-overs for them! Their killers shouldn’t either. Sentences of life without parole should be upheld and remain an option for judges to reserve for the worst crime…..murder.
