Leif Halvorsen

If I had done this blog anytime before December of 2019 it would have had a much different tone to it. It surely would have been on that I would have researched at some point as it was a notorious crime that took place in 1983 in Lexington Kentucky and resulted in the death of three people. In my opinion what it has now become is a symbol of how politicians use crimes, criminals and the death penalty for political gain. It also shows the hypocrisy of such people.

I will definitely get into the details of this case as we go along but I want to start at the end, instead of the beginning. In November of 2019 incumbent Governor Matt Bevin lost his re-election bid to Andy Beshear. One thing I find interesting about Kentucky is that while most of their Congressmen and Senators are Republicans and they appear to be a very red state, when it comes to electing governors it is quite a different story. They have had more Democratic governors than Republican ones and a large majority of the Democratic ones have been re-elected after their first term while the Republicans cannot say the same. In fact, Andy Beshear's father was a two term governor, serving as a Democrat just before Matt Bevin. So here it was November of 2019 and Bevin had lost not just to a Democrat but to the son of the man who had preceded him. It was not a complete surprise that Bevin was not re-elected, not just because of Kentucky history but there were a lot of issues going on surrounding Bevin, especially when it came to teachers, pensions and other financial issues in the state. Yes, I know these things because I live about two miles from Kentucky and my local news includes news in Northwest Kentucky. So, one would think that I had heard what Bevin did just before leaving office, but somehow I missed it. From the time Bevin lost the election, until he left office he pardoned or commuted the sentence of more than 400 (some reports say the number is as high as 600)prisoners. Keep in mind that this was long before any COVID-19 fears that has seen prisoners released early.

Many say that a vast majority of those in which Bevin either pardoned or commuted their sentence were low level crimes, but not all of them were. One was a man convicted of raping a child. He served less than two years of a twenty-three year sentence. Bevin's argument was that there was not physical evidence of the crime. Now, I have not researched the case and cannot say what type of evidence there was, but I can say, that this is not how this is supposed to work. One can argue that while the Governor has an ultimate decision in state cases to decide who deserves a pardon or commutation, and they would be correct, but cases need to go through the legal system. Ultimately in this case Bevin was saying that the jury (or judge, again, I have not read the case), got it wrong and he disagreed with the decision. One man was convicted of hiring a hit man to kill a business partner; one killed his parents; two killed their children (separate cases); and one was a man convicted of murder who's brother had hosted a re-election campaign fundraiser and had personally given to the campaign himself. In many of the cases, like the one convicted of raping the child, Bevin argued the evidence or just simply stated he felt they had served enough time. It did not escape people either that a large majority of these convicts were white. The story is that the FBI has actually been brought in to look into his actions but as of late I have not heard of anything coming of it.

Leif Halvorsen was one of the people that was lucky enough to have Bevin commute his sentence. Halvorsen had been on Kentucky's death row since 1983 for the triple murders of Joey Durrum, Joe Norman and Jacqueline Green (some things spell her name Greene and I was unable to confirm for certain). Now, being on Kentucky death row is really kind of a joke anyway. Since 1976 only three people have been executed by the state, the last being 2008, and only the first was executed involuntarily. The other two purposely stopped their appeals and asked to be executed. Through his attorney's Halvorsen had been asking the courts to commute his sentence to life...without parole... for years. They had even asked two previous governors. It had been repeatedly denied, which truthfully I am unsure why considering they were not executing anyone anyway. I feel as if it would have saved the already financially strapped state time and money, but that was not my decision obviously. Not only did it come as a surprise to Halvorsen, his attorney's and the families of his victims that Bevin commuted Halvorsen's sentence, it surprised them more when he commuted it to life WITH parole. No one knew, or even still know, just exactly what this would mean for Halvorsen. A life sentence in Kentucky means that after twenty years they are eligible for parole..... Halvorsen has served nearly twice this already. According to the Kentucky Department of Corrections there was a hearing on May 18^th, so just a few weeks ago. According to the site he is still incarcerated but next to “hearing action” are the words “serve out” and next to “months deferred” is “N/A.” In his computation Bevin said that Halvorsen “has a powerful voice that needs to be heard by more people.” In fairness, he could have been right in that aspect but let's get into the case and let you decide if he earned the opportunity Bevin gave him.

By all accounts someone came across the bodies of two men on a bridge at the Jessamine/Mercer County Kentucky line on January 13, 1983. These were the bodies of twenty-eight year old Joe Norman and twenty-three year old Joey Durrum. The body of nineteen year old Jacqueline Green, Norman's girlfriend, would be downriver later. Someone would tell the police that a van had been on the bridge at some point. It is unclear whether the witness gave law enforcement a license plate number or just a description but it led investigators to Leif Halvorsen. Halvorsen would be arrested and so would his friend, Mitchell Willoughby. They would both be charged with three counts of murder.

I found some discrepancies in my research as to how many times each victim had been shot. In reality I suppose it does not matter considering they all three died of gunshot wounds but it matters in the sense of clearing up if the crime was just “simply” heinous, or “extremely” heinous. And, in my opinion it matters if when Halvorsen told his story of who shot who, when and where, if he could be trusted that he told the truth. I found one report that says Green was shot eight times in the back of the head, Durrum shot five times and Norman shot three times. It appears that the men were also shot from the back.

Prosecutors claimed that Halvorsen and Willoughby went to Joe Norman's house in Lexington and an argument ensued and that the two men opened fire on the occupants/victims. They then took the bodies to bridge with the intention of throwing them over into the Kentucky River but that apparently proved too hard after attempting with Green. It was said that they retrieved her body and then bound her with weights before putting her body back in the river but left the men on the bridge. Durrum's aunt has said that throughout the trial Halvorsen mocked and joked about the condition of the bodies and showed no remorse.

After being convicted, on September 15, 1983 the two men were given life sentences for the death of Joe Norman and they each were given two death sentences for the deaths of Joey Durrum and Jacqueline Green.

Whether it was during the trial or in later appeals Halvorsen told his story. He would claim that he fallen into using drugs after his wife left him and their two young children. He claims the stress of it all began his downfall into drug use that led him to losing his job and his home. He claimed on the night of the murders he was high on cocaine, marijuana and painkillers. He says that he and Willoughby went to Joe Norman's to do more drugs. He says that Willoughby and Norman argued over money that Willoughby said he was owed. Norman began to poke Willoughby and threatened him with a bayonet. In response Willoughby pulled out a pistol and began firing. Halvorsen says Willoughby shot them all then he instructed Halvorsen to shoot them. He claims to have only shot Green and Durrum. He said then Willoughby then shot Green and Durrum again in the head. In one of his appeals he did claim that he was scared that if he did not do as Willoughby told him and take part that Willoughby would shoot him also.

While he has been in prison Halvorsen has completed two college degrees, one in psychology. He has been known in the prison to settle agitated inmates who are putting others, including guards at risk and preventing riots. He has also taken part in a program that talks to “at-risk” young people to help them make better choices in life. It was said that he was the only death-row inmate that the warden has allowed to speak to the students.

So it does sound like he has attempted to do some good behind bars. It appears it was the student program that he is involved in that Matt Bevins was referring to when he commuted his sentence. Some have questioned the fact that Halvorsen had his sentenced commuted while his accomplice, Mitchell Willoughby remains on death row. Some want to argue that is not a fair thing to do. However, whether I believe Halvorsen deserved to have his sentence commuted or not, I believe to use a blanket statement to believe Willoughby should get the same is wrong. The government already has an issue when they sentence people for crimes and using “one pen” or “brush” to paint them and that is not fair to anyone. Every criminal is different and needs to be looked at as such. Without knowing if Willoughby has attended any college courses or done any of the things that Halvorsen has in prison I can say that Willoughby had a previous record. This is not his first bout with prison by any stretch of the imagination. Looking at the Department of Corrections website this crime is the only one on Halvorsen's record. Now, that does not mean that he automatically deserves a second chance, it just means that he and Willoughby were different people going into the crime and apparently different people inside.

I cannot say if Halvorsen will be released. I cannot even say that his sentence of life with parole will stand. I suspect that he will remain off of death row however. In fact I saw a statement from one of the victim's relatives that is okay with a sentence of life without parole. It was the possibility of parole that was the most aggravating for them, especially at the time in which it was given. I am more curious to learn and see if anything comes from the FBI investigation into Matt Bevins actions.

***Update***

This is not so much an update as possibly a clarification.  I mentioned here that on the Kentucky DOC site where it says "hearing action" it says "serve out" and I was unsure what that means.  Later, for another case, I found indication that this meant that while the inmate is eligible for parole that "serve out" indicates that the board recommended that they never be released.  This would make sense considering that there was nothing indicating that there would be another parole hearing.