Sentence commuted for Nebraska cult killer: “From the depths of hell to a life of great peace.”

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?

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.

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.

BREAKING NEWS: No Lethal Injection Drug Supply in Nebraska.

The Department of Correctional Services confirmed to NET News this afternoon that Nebraska has no drugs with which to carry out a death sentence. 

Responding to email questions NET News submitted this afternoon, Dawn-Renee Smith, the Public Information Coordinator for DOC confirmed that the supply of sodium thiopental acquired by the state expired in December of 2013.  Smith added:  "The Department has not secured additional chemicals."


 

Smith was also asked if the state had identified any new suppliers for the drugs.  In her emailed reply she stated:  "We are looking at all aspects of the lethal injection process. I don’t have anything definitive on that at this time."


The questions followed today's hearing before the Nebraska Supreme Court (reported here earlier) at which the State Attorney General's Office said they were not sure if the a legal source for the lethal injection drugs had been secured. 

Cult Killer Ryan: Review Legality of Lethal Injection

Nebraska wants to proceed with its first execution by lethal injection, but whether the State has... or can obtain... the drugs it needs legally is up in the air.  During a hearing before the Nebraska Supreme Court today Justice William Connolly asked if the Department of Corrections had the sodium thiopental it needed.  Assistant Attorney General James D. Smith responded: "I have not inquired about it for this hearing. I am not able to say that we are in a position to meet those requirements."  

Most of the arguments heard today turned on whether Ryan was using the correct legal pathway to challenge the method of execution.  

Michael Ryan (Photo: DOC)

Ryan was sentenced to death in 1986 for murdering two people on a farm near Rulo, Neb. which he ruled over as a near-messianic cult leader.  After a stay in execution in 2012 Ryan filed a post-conviction appeal in Richardson County, where the crime occurred.  The judge dismissed the argument, stating it was not the appropriate way to challenge the method of execution, only validity of the sentence itself.  The State Attorney General wants that ruling to stand.

During the Supreme Court hearing today Ryan's attorney, Robert Kortus, stated while he believes drugs bought by the State of Nebraska for lethal injection were purchased illegally, that claim, wasn't "the main story" he hoped to tell the court.  Kortus represents Ryan through the Nebraska Commission on Public Advocacy.  

Kortus asked the Court to take a broader view and to include reviewing the method of execution as part of the second legal pathway open after the verdict has been rendered:  post-conviction relief.  It would be a benefit to the high court, according to Kortus, because it would give the Justices  "the right to review the legality of the method of execution used by the state" in a manner more often left to Federal judges.  

Arguing for the Nebraska Attorney General's office, James Smith said the courts had already rejected that approach.  He noted the Supreme Court would have to over rule three of their own rulings in death row cases issued in the last ten years.

Sodium Thiopental (Evidence Photo)

Most of the publicity and debate over Nebraska's death penalty of late has been how and where the drugs were obtained.  Much of the material filed in court emphasizes the state’s bungled attempt to acquire the pharmaceuticals needed to carry out the execution.  

Ryan's pivotal argument focused on whether there a risk that the drug or drugs used could result in “cruel and unusual punishment” which would be forbidden by the state’s (and U.S.) Constitution.  There was little discussion of that during today's hearing. 

Meanwhile, the source of Nebraska's lethal injection drugs remains murky.  The current supply purchased by the Department of Corrections has likely had to have been thrown out because they are past their legal expiration dates.  

One problem was the supply chain the state chose to use to get its supply of the crucial anesthetic drug sodium thiopental.  Nebraska used an overseas broker who supplied drugs manufactured by an Indian pharmaceutical maker.  The drugs were not approved or tested by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.  Questions remain as to whether that step was necessary.  In addition, the Swiss company that made the drug maker claimed the drugs had been stolen and should never have been sold for use in executions. 

Nebraska Attorney General  Jon Bruning earlier dismissed the entire line of appeal as "a sideshow.”

Instead discussion focused on previous Supreme Court rulings limiting the legal pathways death row inmates could follow to challenge the method of execution.  In three separate rulings the Justices maintained they could only be heard as a civil rights claim.  These matters are largely handled in the Federal Courts.

In the 1980s Ryan, an unemployed truck driver, developed strong anti-government beliefs and his own warped interpretation of the Old Testament.  A small group came together on a communal farm in rural Richardson County.  Eventually two members of the group were murdered.

Luke Stice, the five-year-old son of a cult member was struck and killed by Ryan.  Later the cult leader announced one man, James Thimm, was no longer a true believer. Ryan oversaw a sickening day-long session of torture that lead to Thimm’s death. Four other men were convicted of taking part. Ryan was sentenced to death.  

The state has not been able to implement any execution since 1997 when Robert Williams became the last man to die in the state’s electric chair.