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No parole for Riddle
Sentenced to life imprisonment for his involvement in the killing of Abbie Sue Mullinax inside her Gaffney home on Aug. 8, 1985, the 39-yearold man has been incarcerated since 1986 and his projected parole date is in 2009, according to state Department of Corrections records. At least for now, however, the state Pardon and Parole Board decided he should stay locked up. The board on Wednesday rejected Riddle's request for parole, the second time it has done so in as many years. The board's decision pleased one of Mullinax's relatives, who was given an opportunity to address the board Wednesday. Still, Dayna McCraw knows each time the parole comes up for review the painful memories of her great-grandmother's death are rekindled. "The paroles coming up every single year just keeps it on the surface," she said. "This is something you don't wish on anyone and when you read about other families going through this, it literally breaks your heart because you know what's in store for them." McCraw was 17 years old when her great-grandmother was killed. She addressed the board, which was seated in Columbia, through a video conference link from Spartanburg. When given her opportunity to speak, she stressed how time hasn't healed the family's wounds. "I let them know that, on the books, it has been 22 years," she said. "But to the family, not a day goes by that someone can't tell you everything that happened since that phone call at 2:15 a.m. (on Aug. 8, 1985). This was a brutal murder and society has nothing to gain by (Jason Riddle) being back on the street." Jason Riddle's brother, Ernest, had been convicted and sentenced to death for the murder but currently is awaiting a new trial after his conviction and sentence were overturned by the South Carolina Supreme Court in 2006. Seventh District Solicitor Trey Gowdy, who will prosecute the case against Ernest Riddle at his retrial, accompanied Dayna McCraw in her video appearance at Jason Riddle's parole hearing. "I've been a prosecutor since 1994 and there are a handful of cases that stay with you forever," Gowdy said. While this case is more than 20 years old, Gowdy said it arises in conversation every time he visits Cherokee County and surrounding areas. "I was speaking in Spartanburg to a family in another capital case, and was sharing with them the Riddle case that happened over 20 years ago but is still around from a victim's family standpoint and the people in the room knew exactly what I was talking about," he said. "It's one of those cases that just resonates and impacts the collective conscious of a community. It will not be forgotten." Gowdy said Ernest Riddle's retrial most likely will happen this fall. Gowdy said he will seek the death penalty. |
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