Later this summer Timothy Haverkamp will be a free man. He’s been out of jail for five years, but not quite free.
In 1985 freedom of any kind seemed impossible.
How could Nebraska
ever release someone who participated in the barbaric torture and murder of
another man on the orders of a self-proclaimed prophet of god?
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| Haverkamp is sworn in before Board of Pardons. (Bill Kelly) |
In the Nebraska State
Capitol today the shy and soft-spoken convicted murderer convinced the
traditionally hardline Board of Pardons he deserved their trust. One board
member said Haverkamp had emerged “from the depths of hell…to a life of great
peace.”
Haverkamp spent 24
years in prison for his role in the barbaric torture and murder of James Thimm.
In 1985 both men lived with Michael Ryan and his small band of religious
zealots and survivalists on a farm outside of Rulo, Nebraska.
It was, arguably,
the most sensational crime in the state since the Charles Starkweather murder
spree in 1959.
No reasonable person
wants to read the details of what Ryan and four of his followers did to Thimm.
Summaries of the crime in court documents turn the stomach and can bring on
tears. Every aspect of life on the Richardson County farm, dictated by the
sadistic Ryan, justified by his twisted interpretation of the Bible in general
and the Book of Revelation in particular.
Thimm earned the cult
leader’s scorn for questioning his beliefs. Ryan orchestrated several days of
torture for the man. Four other followers, including Haverkamp, did as they
were told as Thimm was skinned alive, his limbs broken, and worse.
Police raided the compound
and discovered the grave of another victim of Ryan’s. Five-year-old boy Luke
Stice died after Ryan hit him in the head for talking back.
Haverkamp was convicted
of second-degree murder. He joined others from the cult in testifying against
Ryan. At the time only Ryan’s teenaged son Dennis continued to maintain that
they were doing god’s work on behalf of his father. He too has since been
released from prison.
Haverkamp got out of
jail five years ago. Like anyone on parole he was required to regularly report
to a parole officer, submit to drug tests, and stay out of any kind of trouble.
By doing everything right, he earned the right to request ending even that
routine. Commuting his sentence would
reduce the life sentence handed down by the Richardson District Court to roughly
the time he already served in jail. Unlike a full pardon, the state would not
nullify the original conviction. He will always remain a convicted felon.
Under oath Haverkamp told
the board it had been over 30 years since “the incident” and during his time on
parole he’s led a “productive, law-abiding life.” He spoke for less than thirty
seconds.
Esther Casmer. the
chair of the state’s Parole Board was asked to review the case by the Attorney
General and report back to the Board of Pardons. She and the rest of her board gave
unqualified support to commuting Haverkamp’ s sentence. She said there were “no
hitches” in his parole. Casmer, who has reviewed the cases of hundreds of
prisoners on parole, said Haverkamp’s “exemplary” post-release record was “not
the norm.”
“He hasn’t even had a
parking ticket,” she marveled when we spoke after the hearing.
No one spoke in
opposition to the sentence reduction.
Answering questions
from the board Haverkamp spoke of the “great support” he gets from family and
his church. He has a steady job, often working six days a week and volunteering
when possible for Habitat for Humanity. He fishes for relaxation. His aging parents
live in Kansas and he’d like to be able to visit without first getting
permission from a parole officer.
Governor Heineman previously
warned Haverkamp that getting a sentence reduced on a murder conviction was
almost unheard of under this board. All three members tend to take a hard line
on law and order issues. Yet no reservations were heard at the hearing.
“All we’re really
doing here is deciding whether he has to continue checking in with his parole
officer every six months for the rest of his life,” said Attorney General
Bruning. “It’s an unnecessary expense to the taxpayers” since he’s been successfully
rehabilitated.
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| Haverkamp leaves the State Capitol. (Bill Kelly) |
The vote was
unanimous. Timothy Haverkamp earned his freedom. He left the Nebraska State
Capitol Building playing cat and mouse with newspaper and television
photographers, successfully ditching the pack without making a comment.
In 2009 at his parole
hearing Esther Casmer reminded everyone in the room that laws to punish
criminals are written to protect the community from people “we are afraid of,
not those who we are angry with.”
Nebraska is still
very much afraid of Michael Ryan. The man who convinced Haverkamp and the other
others to savage another human being in the name of god remains on death row.
The Nebraska Supreme Court recently rejected his latest effort to stop his
execution. There is no word about when, or if, Nebraska will be able to carry
out its first execution by lethal injection.
