FranciSargent in 1972, however, Horton and the others would be eligible for unguarded 48-hour weekend furloughs. Under a furlough program begun by Republican Gov. But the state had a very severe first-degree murder law, which mandated life without parole.
Under the law, all three were guilty of murder.)Ī few weeks before they were sentenced, Michael Dukakis ha vetoed a bill that would have instituted the death penalty in Massachusetts. Under the law, it was irrelevant who actually delivered the killing blow. (Just which of the three actually stabbed Fournier - or whether it was done by one or two or all three - was not established in court. In May 1975, all three men were convicted of armed robbery anfirst-degree murder. Horton had previously served three years in South Carolina for assault with intent to commit murder and prosecutors believed he had done the stabbing. Horton and the two others were arrested and all confessed to the robbery, but none confessed to the murder.
