State pardon board denies request for early release in 1994 Duluth triple murder case
A request by a man to be released from prison before the end of his sentence has been denied by the state parole board.
In a unanimous decision, the Board of Pardons denied Todd Michael Warren’s request.
Warren is serving a 50-year sentence for a 1994 triple murder in Duluth.
Warren was convicted of the murders of Keith Hermanson, Peter Moore and Samuel Witherspoon. He shot the three young men at a party, after he said he saw them engaging in unwanted sexual acts with women. He drove 24 miles back to his parents’ home, got a gun and returned to the party to shoot and kill all three.
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He was sentenced in 1995 and has been in prison since.
Tuesday morning, he made his case to the board, which is made up of Gov. Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison and Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Natalie Hudson.
“I was wrong to take the lives of these young men on that awful night in 1994,” Warren said, by video call from the state prison from Moose Lake. “I’ve never been more wrong about anything. There’s no excuse. I accept full responsibility for my heinous offense. I’m so very deeply sorry for the grievous harm and incalculable loss I’ve caused. I still carry tremendous guilt and shame for the unfixable damage I've caused to my victims and their families most of all, but also to my own family, friends and community.”
Testifying on his behalf were Warren’s uncle, two public defenders and the founder of the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop, Jennifer Bowen.
“For 13 years, I’ve had the unique privilege of reading much of Todd’s written work, and I assure you that for better or worse, a writer’s words do reveal a pattern of personality,” she said. “And those patterns do reveal a person’s character. Todd’s writing consistently reveals a kind man who sees inherent worth in everyone. This is true on and off the page.”
Bowen talked about how she watched him help bridge a cultural divide among prisoners in the wake of a violent incident.
“Many in the group had harsh words about the situation, about the lockdown, about revenge,” Bowen recalled. “Todd was not the tallest in the room, nor was he the loudest. But he spoke up in a quiet, sturdy voice. In a room filled with tension he offered calm.”
Warren talked about how he’s changed during his time in prison, how he’s taken classes, mentored people, and helped with peaceful resolutions to conflicts between others.
“I’m no longer a rash, misguided teenager with a wrongheaded hero complex,” he said. “Today I am a peacemaker and a practitioner of restorative justice.”
He requested clemency from the board.
But that request was met with the pain and anger of parents still grieving the loss of their children three decades ago.
“I don’t care if he’s Mother Teresa these days you have to pay for the crimes you commit and these crimes were outrageous as far as I’m concerned,” said Roy Hermanson, whose son Keith was killed in the shootings. “He’s piled up a big bill and he’s got to pay it. That’s how I see it.”
Hermanson wept as he talked about how just last year his sister told him he’s never been the same since his son was killed.
“This happens every now and then when I talk about this,” Hermanson said, apologizing to the board.
The three board members acknowledged the pain of family members whose loved ones were murdered.
Chief Justice Natalie Hudson said she thinks what Warren has done in prison has been great.
“I applaud the tremendous rehabilitative work that you've done over the last 29, 30 years that you’ve been incarcerated,” she said. “You’ve clearly made the most of the educational and vocational opportunities that were available to you. And I applaud you for that.”
But she said there were competing factors for the board to consider — concerns of family, of victims, mercy, remorse and retribution.
“I believe that your remorse is genuine. But the family’s concerns here and their well-being weigh very heavy for me. These were brutal, heinous murders,” she said.
“Yes, you were 18. But as one of the family members articulated, this was a clearly premeditated crime. You had time to consider your actions. When you drove 24 miles or whatever it was back to your parents’ home to get a gun and then drove back. There was time to think about the repercussions of your actions. Juveniles often act in rash and impulsive ways. This was neither, just given the time frame that elapsed here.”
Hudson said she believes Warren's sentence was already lenient given the nature of the crime. She, along with the rest of the board, denied Warren’s request.