|
Posted on 07/26/2003 7:31:11 AM PDT by freepatriot32
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (July 26) - Last month, Penn State University officials learned something about professor Paul Krueger that wasn't on his resume - he is on parole for a triple murder committed in Texas nearly 40 years ago.
The university knew nothing about Krueger's conviction until late last month, when the Pennsylvania Bureau of Probation and Parole contacted the university, spokesman Bill Mahon said Friday.
"We're in shock to find out some of the details, and we're still looking into it," Mahon said. "We've never had a situation like this before."
Mahon said the university doesn't require prospective faculty members to report their criminal backgrounds.
But it may soon be a moot point. A spokesman for National University in California confirmed that Krueger had accepted a teaching job there, and Texas parole officials said they already were working on that move.
"We are, as a matter of fact, to meet with him at our headquarters here today to do some of that paperwork," said Kathy Shallcross, deputy director of Texas' parole division said Friday.
Hoyt Smith, spokesman for National University, the La Jolla-based college where Krueger will be associate professor of business, said officials were shocked to learn of the conviction from a reporter Friday, but that it wouldn't necessarily affect his employment.
"He had excellent credentials. He came highly recommended from Penn State," Smith said.
Krueger, who has been at Penn State for four years, has no telephone listing in the State College area. He did not immediately respond to an e-mail from The Associated Press.
In 1965, when he was 18, Krueger and a 16-year-old friend, left San Clemente, Calif. The two passed through Texas and rented a motor boat hoping to travel to Venezuela, where they intended to become "soldiers of fortune," according to a 1979 story in the Austin American-Statesman.
Along the Intracoastal Waterway near Corpus Christi, they encountered a fishing boat with a crew of three, John Fox, 38; Noel Little, 50; and Van Carson, 40. As night fell on April 12, 1965, all five went to shore and put in for the night.
For reasons Krueger never made public, he shot the three fishermen that night, unloading 40 bullets into their bodies. Sam Jones, then the district attorney for Nueces County, later referred to the shooting as "the most heinous crime in the history of the Gulf Coast."
Krueger pleaded guilty in 1966 to three counts of murder and was sentenced to three life terms, to be served concurrently.
Corrections officials described Krueger as a model inmate. He earned his diploma and an associate's degree, volunteered with alcohol and drug rehabilitation programs and reported for the prison newspaper.
Two parole commissioners, in 1977, called Krueger, "probably the most exceptional inmate" in the entire state. "There is nothing further he can do to rehabilitate himself," they said. Two years later, he was paroled to West Covina, Calif., where he enrolled in graduate school.
Krueger's academic credentials are unquestioned - he graduated summa cum laude from Sam Houston State University, going on to earn a master's degree from California State University-Los Angeles, a Ph.D. in sociology from South Dakota State University and an Ed.D. from the University of Southern California.
He was a visiting professor at Idaho State University and held a tenure-track position at Augustana College in South Dakota before coming to Penn State, where Krueger was director of the Institute for Research in Training and Development, teaching mostly graduate courses and studying employee training programs.
Some of his previous employers expressed surprise when learning of Krueger's conviction.
"I'm sitting here thunderstruck. I'm virtually speechless," said Anne Oppegard, chairwoman of the business department at Augustana. "I'm practically stuttering I'm so dumbfounded."
07/26/03 03:53 EDT
Yeah, but marijuana is a gateway drug.
And it doesn't appear that the university requires a background check of its prospective faculty members, either. Guess what? People aren't always what they seem and the university is stupid to not see this.
My university had egg on its face because they gave a guy a job who faked his credentials. The guy got a professor job in the engineering department. Just one problem: the guy didn't have a doctorate in mechanical engineering, he only had a bachelors in engineering technology (not the same thing at all). The guy was there for about a month before the university found out and it wound up being an ugly embarrassing affair. Lessons learned: they now wait for the background check to come back before they hire professors.
No news here! Our colleges are filled with nut cases and terror supporting proffessors.
In this country higher learning institutions care about "Money" especially the foriegn Arab money. Why you can even learn to fly a plane and at the same time skip the "how to land classes".
rrrrrrrrrrrreally great isn't it.
While were at it lets include the United Nation as a terrorist organization. I'll bet if you would have the FBI and CIA investigate every single office and tap some phones you'd soon board shut the doors and windows.
Cause: C-66-1138-L / Disposition: 05/11/1966 / Age -18
Final Plead: Guilty / Homicide / Murder with Malice Aforethought
Confinement - Life / Crimnal Dis. Court #5
Texas State ID - 01298817 * Serving Sentence Concurrent
Maybe they could at least get a grade school education while serving their 15 yrs.
Huge loophole!
|
You're a bad man.
Agreed, which is one of the principle arguments for the death penalty.
Not that I think it's likely this professor is going to commit another crime, and I guess in theory the "rehabilitation system" did perfectly what it was supposed to, but there's something a bit chilling about this whole story...
No kidding.
We always wait until a background check clears before putting anyone on the payroll. Firing someone is very messy and can be costly so we prefer to minimize the risk.
Of course, we are just money grubbing capitalists not high-minded University administrators. ;)
Congratulations to your university for learning this after only getting burned once. I wonder if Penn State will be as wise.
D'OH !!!
mental note to self NEVER type before having coffee :-)
http://www.centredaily.com/mld/dailytimes/news/6382249.htm
University spokesman Steve MacCarthy said Penn State was not aware of Paul E. Krueger's record when he was hired for a tenure-track position four years ago. The university did not ask if Krueger had a criminal record when he was hired.
The Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole, as required by state law, notified Penn State a few weeks ago that Krueger was a parolee.
MacCarthy said Krueger, 55, has been a fine employee by all accounts and there have been no reported problems. Krueger has been out of prison for more than 30 years, during which time he has earned four academic degrees.
According to a report broadcast by WTAJ-TV Channel 10, Krueger served 12 years in prison for murdering three fishermen in the mid-1960s when he was 18. He was paroled with special consideration by then-Gov. Dolph Briscoe, according to the report.
"The circumstances of the case are horrific and certainly give us pause," MacCarthy said.
He said there will be no immediate action taken in terms of Krueger's employment at the university.
MacCarthy said it took the Texas parole officials four years to notify Pennsylvania parole officials that Krueger was a parolee living in Pennsylvania. According to Lauren Taylor, director of legislative affairs and communications with the state Board of Probation and Parole, the process, which is supposed to take place when a parolee wishes to move out of state, "didn't happen when it should have."
Taylor said Krueger is no longer a resident of Pennsylvania and is not under parole board supervision.
However, MacCarthy said Krueger is currently taking a trip out of state.
MacCarthy said Krueger's background would have been something the university would have preferred to know at the beginning of the hiring process.
However, MacCarthy said, faculty candidates are not required to fill out an application in the same way as staff applicants. Faculty applicants are judged by their academic credentials, the quality of their publications and the scope of their research, among other criteria, MacCarthy said. All of Krueger's academic credentials and past employment records proved to be accurate, he said.
A criminal incident would not necessarily prevent someone from being employed at Penn State, MacCarthy said. Instead, it would depend on the circumstances of the crime.
The issue of reference and background checks has recently surfaced throughout the Big Ten but is unrelated to this incident, MacCarthy said.
The conference has recently issued a request for proposals seeking a company that could do broad-scale background checks for job candidates who would be subject to background searches.
Prior to coming to work at Penn State, Krueger studied at several universities, receiving a doctorate from South Dakota State University as well as degrees from California State University in Los Angeles, University of Southern California, and Sam Houston State University.
Krueger specializes in workforce management and serves as the director of the Institute for Research in Training and Development.
Krueger could not be reached for comment Thursday.
David Monk, dean of the College of Education, was out of town and also could not be reached for comment.
Haven't used in a pen in weeks.
Penn State spokesman Steve MacCarthy said Thursday that Paul E. Krueger, who taught in the College of Education, was on a trip out of town. However, Krueger met with the officials from the Parole Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice on Friday to discuss the terms of his parole and his next career move.
National University public relations director Hoyt Smith said Krueger has signed a contract with the school.
Penn State officials only recently learned of Krueger's past after he had spent four years with the university. He was convicted of fatally shooting three fishermen near Corpus Christi, Texas, in 1966, when he was 18, and given three concurrent life sentences. After 12 years in prison, he was paroled with special consideration by the Texas governor.
Upon his release from prison, Krueger pursued three academic degrees and was eventually hired by Penn State in 1999. The university did not know about Krueger's conviction until the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole notified it a few weeks earlier, as the board is required to do under state law.
Penn State does not require background checks for faculty applicants, the practice at most universities, Penn State spokesman Bill Mahon said.
Changes in the way parolees are handled contributed to the four-year lag between Krueger being hired at Penn State and the university being notified of his parole status.
Krueger was originally paroled to California, said Larry Todd, Texas Department of Criminal Justice public information officer.
In 1985, a California parole board consulted with Texas officials and both authorities agreed to place Krueger on annual report status, meaning that he would file a status report annually with Texas. With that status, Krueger was allowed to travel freely throughout the country.
Todd said Krueger has adhered to those requirements.
"This parolee has not been a problem and has reported on time," Todd said.
Kathy Shallcross, deputy director of the parole division in Texas, said the Interstate Compact for Probation and Parole Supervision was recently amended to require that any state a parolee enters be informed of his or her whereabouts.
That led Texas to provide notification to Pennsylvania parole officials who, in turn, notified Penn State.
MacCarthy said Thursday that, by all accounts, Krueger has been a fine employee. A professor and administrator in the College of Education declined to comment and referred all inquiries to the university's office of public relations.
Shallcross said Krueger is the model of reform in the prison system.
"Absolutely, I would think he stands out in the education as well as the accomplishments in his career," she said.
Krueger's teaching career will continue at National University, where Smith said he was hired as an associate professor in the school of business and information management. Smith said that, under California law, employers are prohibited from conducting criminal background checks on applicants. He said a different type of background check was conducted for Krueger, and he had received impeccable recommendations from previous employers, including Penn State.
Before Krueger was a model prisoner and parolee, the California native was a troubled youth. According to an April 8, 1979, Austin American-Statesmen article, he and a friend drove from San Clemente, Calif., to Corpus Christi in 1965, perhaps running from a tumultuous home life.
After renting a motorboat, Krueger, 17, and John Phillip Angles, 16, motored out to Laguna Madre, where they found John D. Fox, Noel D. Little and Van D. Carson. On April 12, when Angles went to find firewood, Krueger shot the three fisherman, unloading 40 total rounds from two different rifles.
No motive was ever determined.
Sam Jones, then the district attorney for Nueces County, later referred to the shooting as "the most heinous crime in the history of the Gulf Coast."
In prison, Krueger worked as a reporter for the inmate newspaper and earned a bachelor's degree in psychology -- and a 4.0 grade-point average -- from Sam Houston State University.
Two parole commissioners, in 1977, called Krueger "probably the most exceptional inmate" in the entire state.
"There is nothing further he can do to rehabilitate himself," they said.
According to the American-Statesman, Krueger was released Jan. 11, 1979, after W.J. Estelle, then the director of the Texas Department of Corrections, intervened on his behalf. Controversy ensued, as opponents said 12 years was too little a price to pay for taking three lives.
Krueger went on to earn three more academic degrees.
Larry Fitzgerald, public information officer for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, said Krueger's behavior in prison likely contributed to his early release.
"That in itself was probably one of the reasons the governor was inclined to grant him parole," Fitzgerald said, "because the guy did turn his life around."
So why then is he so shocked that a murdered was able to get into their midst?
I think using a writing implement dulls the brain. Of course I still use them for crossword puzzles.
But nobody else does it, either....waaaa, waaaa, waaaa. That excuse is for toddlers, Mr. Mahon.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
