Posted on: Wednesday, April 27, 2005
Parole official quits over term reduction
By Jim Dooley
Advertiser Staff Writer
Hawai'i Paroling Authority member Edward M. Slavish has resigned under pressure from Gov. Linda Lingle following accusations that he failed to fully disclose past personal ties to the father of a murderer whose 30-year prison term he voted to reduce by four years.
The three-member paroling authority unanimously approved the sentence reduction, but it was later revoked after Roger Craddock, father of 21-year-old murder victim Ann Craddock, complained to state authorities that Slavish had acted inappropriately.
Ann Craddock was a junior at UCLA spending the summer at a Maui hotel job when she disappeared in 1977. Her car was found several days later near Ka'anapali, but her body wasn't discovered until the following year, buried 20 miles away in a shallow grave at Ma'alaea.
The discovery came after Randall Krause told a prison inmate in Alaska that he had killed Craddock and drew a map showing where her remains were buried. The prosecution argued that Krause, who maintained his innocence throughout the trial, savagely beat Craddock to death over a $400 debt. He was sentenced to life in prison in 1979.
The Hawai'i Paroling Authority originally set Krause's minimum term, the length of time he must serve before being considered for parole, at 35 years. That was lowered to 30 years in 1993 over the objections of the Craddock family.
Slavish, a 63-year-old former real-estate broker, said before he was named to the parole board in August 2003, he disclosed to the governor and her chief of staff, Bob Awana, that he had played golf with Rudolph Krause, the father of Randall Krause.
He said he disclosed the relationship in part because he earlier had asked state Rep. Cynthia Thielen, R-50th (Kailua, Mokapu), for a letter of recommendation supporting his candidacy for the parole board job, and "she wanted a commitment from me that I would never let one particular inmate, Krause, out of prison early."
"I thought that was totally out of line for a legislator to do that to an executive branch appointee. I told the governor and Bob Awana about it and I told them that I knew Rudy Krause. Nothing came of it," Slavish said.
Lingle appointed Slavish to a brand-new parole board in mid-2003. Two other members, including former chairman Al Beaver, had resigned. The third member's term expired. Joining Slavish on the board were Dane Oda of Kaua'i and chairman Albert Tufono.
Shortly after the new board took office, Rick Bissen, first assistant attorney general at the time and former Maui prosecutor when Lingle was Maui mayor, brought the victim's father to a meeting with authority members, Slavish said.
"That never happened in any other case while I was on the board — a relative of a crime victim meeting privately with us," Slavish said. "But I was told that Mr. Craddock had always met with the board when Krause had asked for a sentence reduction. He flies over from California to talk to the board."
A few weeks later, Slavish said Rudolph Krause contacted parole board administrator Tommy Johnson and met with the board, too, after learning about the Craddock meeting.
"We were all brand new, and this was a 25-year battle that had been going on between these two men. It was very bitter," Slavish said.
In October, parole board members held a closed-door "administrative meeting" to discuss 76 cases, including the Krause case.
"At that time, I reminded them that I knew Rudy Krause, had played golf with him three or four times," Slavish said.
In fact, Slavish acknowledged in an interview yesterday, he and Rudolph Krause played in the same golf foursome once a week for several years and Krause also invested $10,000 in a Mainland real-estate venture organized by Slavish in the early 1990s.
"I made a mistake," Slavish said. "I don't know why I didn't disclose all that. But I'm not close to Rudy Krause. I've barely seen him in the past four years."
Slavish said his past ties to Rudolph Krause "had absolutely nothing to do with my consideration" of Randall Krause's request for a sentence reduction.
He said Randall Krause had never been written up for a disciplinary violation in the 25 years he spent behind bars.
"This guy had letters from two different wardens recommending that he get consideration for a sentence reduction," said Slavish. "I've never seen that before."
After Roger Craddock complained that Slavish had acted inappropriately, parole board members Oda and Tufono re-examined the Krause case and changed his sentence reduction from four to 1ý years.
Slavish was investigated by two internal affairs officers with the Department of Public Safety. Awana then told Slavish that he would have to resign and the governor and Attorney General Mark Bennett concurred in that decision, Slavish said.
After meeting with Bennett, Slavish decided not to fight to keep his part-time paid board position and stepped down at the beginning of this month.
"I don't think it's right, though," he said.
"When the new members were sworn in, the governor and the lieutenant governor both told us, 'You have one of the most independent boards in state government. You are totally on your own and can act without interference,' " Slavish said. "Apparently that meant on anything except sensitive cases on Maui."
Russell Pang, spokesman for Lingle, declined comment on Slavish's statements, other than to say that Slavish "submitted his resignation, we accepted it and we thanked him for his service."
Rep. Thielen said yesterday that Slavish's recollection of their conversation about Krause was not totally correct.
"I did bring up the Krause case because I know the parents and I knew Ann (Craddock) as a young girl. She used to play with my nephew in Newport Beach. My only concern was that he (Slavish) speak with the (Craddock) family before making any decisions."
The Advertiser could not reach Roger Craddock at his home in Los Angeles yesterday.
Reach Jim Dooley at 535-2447 or jdooley@honoluluadvertiser.com.
