David Harry Fisher

[synthisislab]

Did he get out of prison already for the rape/murder of the little 13 year old girl Laura Burbank and subsequent escape from prison? And if so, does anyone know where he lives now? I can't believe they didn't sentence that subhuman to at least life in prison or death (which is what he would have gotten in a state like Florida or Texas). What a despicable guy. If he did get released already, I hope his neighbors know what he did so they can watch him.

[mphs95]

Originally Posted by synthisislab

Did he get out of prison already for the rape/murder of the little 13 year old girl Laura Burbank and subsequent escape from prison? And if so, does anyone know where he lives now? I can't believe they didn't sentence that subhuman to at least life in prison or death (which is what he would have gotten in a state like Florida or Texas). What a despicable guy. If he did get released already, I hope his neighbors know what he did so they can watch him.

It was in Washington State. The deal is, when a crime is committed, no matter when you are tried, you have to go by the guidelines set up at the time of the incident. I think he was paroled, but there are other posts that talk about him that should help you a little more.

This was a segment that always scared the crap out of me. The mugshot...eeeehhhhh!

Even if he was paroled, as a child killer, I'm sure he made some good friends in the state pen

[kadrmas15]

Fisher I believe was paroled in the mid to late 1990's but I could be mistaken on that. Washington state did and actually still does go by a parole system. So if you are sentenced, like in Fisher's case to 20 years in prison, you become eligible for parole after serving only a fraction of that and it is completely up to the parole board when to release you.

In Fisher's case, he was arrested in 1970. He was originally charged with first degree murder but of course by the time it got to trial the prosecutor's ended up allowing him to plead down to manslaughter and he was sentenced to the maximum for that crime, 20 years in prison. In 1974 he escaped and was on the run for over 15 years. I dont know if he was ever even charged with escape and then they returned him to a medium security facility. Of course he was given credit for the 4 years he served in custody before his escape so he probably was eligible for parole just a couple of years after he returned to prison.

[synthisislab]

Uggh, it disgusts me how weak the justice was in this case for what that monster did to the poor young girl.

[supersally1974]

Originally Posted by synthisislab

Uggh, it disgusts me how weak the justice was in this case for what that monster did to the poor young girl.

Yes. Why David Fisher was allowed to serve his sentence in a minimum security prison is beyond me. If I remember the segment correctly that prison HAD NO WALLS!!!

Seriously.

Our neighborhood doggie park is more secure than that prison. At least it has a chain link fence.

How can a prison have NO WALLS? What kinda half-assed, wavy-gravy, New Age crap is that? ARG.

Who knows how many other kids he's hurt before he was caught.
It's tragic, really.

[synthisislab]

Not just that the "prison" had no walls, but the leniency of the sentence. The guy obviously preyed on young girls, yet the law was MUCH too weak in this case.

[kadrmas15]

Well, actually it didnt have anything to do with the laws being weak. It had to do with the fact that this guy at the very least committed 2nd degree murder and quite possibly 1st degree murder. He didnt commit manslaughter. But it has nothing to do with how tough or weak the laws are it has to do with the fact the prosecutors pled the guy down to a lower charge to avoid a trial. Plea bargaining as bad as it is in cases like this, it is sometimes necessary. I mean, I think people would be stunned how many people face criminal charges from everything ranging from speeding tickets to murder and to hold jury trials for every one of those cases would simply be impossible. Not to mention how costly it is to have any trial but especially a felony level trial such as for murder in particular.

[synthisislab]

Yeah, and you also have to take into account that this was in Washington, which is a very lenient state to begin with which seems to be more concerned with overturning death sentences than actually carrying them out. I wonder if this sleazeball is in prison again somewhere for rape and/or murder.

[kadrmas15]

Well, I dont really base whether or not a state is 'tough' on crime based on how many people they execute. I wouldnt say Washington State is lenient they just arent a pro death penalty state. They do have the death penalty there but it is only a matter of time before they get rid of it.

I can promise you that in 1970, David Harry Fisher could have got the same plea bargain he got in Washington State in some southern states even Florida or Texas. I dont know that he would have got manslaughter but he probably could have avoided a life sentence in pretty much every state at that time. If that crime occured in modern times he wouldnt have been pled down to manslaughter even in a northern state like Washington State.

But I wouldnt say a 20 year sentence is 'lenient'. I mean, I see where you are coming from and I understand where you are coming from but I just dont agree with your reasoning. I'm not trying to start an argument so hopefully you wont take it that way.

I'm glad you are interested in the subject and I think people need to be held accountable for what they do. I just dont agree on the death penalty. I mean should Fisher be in prison? Yes. However it just didnt work out that way. My guess would be the state pled him down because they were afraid he might be acquitted so they figured 20 years would be better than an acquittal. In that regard they were right. So it is a tough and sad situation. That type of case especially would be handled differently these days but you have to remember this case did occur in 1970 and the system was very different back then.

[mphs95]

Usually about 90 % of criminal cases are pleaded down to a lesser charge before going to trial. This is done to save taxpayer money, avoid the chance of having a person set free upon the public and also sometimes to spare the vic's and/or their family the trauma of a trial.

The things about the 70s is that rehabilitation was pushed as the new end all to crime. I believe in it to a point, but sometimes it is not enough. I think in this case the Pros. atty was too afraid of him getting off with a slap on the wrist or just scot free and took what he could get. The Washington State DOC that let a convicted killer of a minor go to a min security institution should have been bitch smacked.

[synthisislab]

Originally Posted by kadrmas15

Well, I dont really base whether or not a state is 'tough' on crime based on how many people they execute. I wouldnt say Washington State is lenient they just arent a pro death penalty state. They do have the death penalty there but it is only a matter of time before they get rid of it.

I can promise you that in 1970, David Harry Fisher could have got the same plea bargain he got in Washington State in some southern states even Florida or Texas. I dont know that he would have got manslaughter but he probably could have avoided a life sentence in pretty much every state at that time. If that crime occured in modern times he wouldnt have been pled down to manslaughter even in a northern state like Washington State.

But I wouldnt say a 20 year sentence is 'lenient'. I mean, I see where you are coming from and I understand where you are coming from but I just dont agree with your reasoning. I'm not trying to start an argument so hopefully you wont take it that way.

I'm glad you are interested in the subject and I think people need to be held accountable for what they do. I just dont agree on the death penalty. I mean should Fisher be in prison? Yes. However it just didnt work out that way. My guess would be the state pled him down because they were afraid he might be acquitted so they figured 20 years would be better than an acquittal. In that regard they were right. So it is a tough and sad situation. That type of case especially would be handled differently these days but you have to remember this case did occur in 1970 and the system was very different back then.

You wouldn't say 20 years is lenient? What about when they cut that down to 10 or 12 years (or whatever he ended up serving with time off for good behavior or for being a "model inmate") in a country club of a "prison" for raping and brutally murdering that poor little girl?

Originally Posted by mphs95

Usually about 90 % of criminal cases are pleaded down to a lesser charge before going to trial. This is done to save taxpayer money, avoid the chance of having a person set free upon the public and also sometimes to spare the vic's and/or their family the trauma of a trial.

The things about the 70s is that rehabilitation was pushed as the new end all to crime. I believe in it to a point, but sometimes it is not enough. I think in this case the Pros. atty was too afraid of him getting off with a slap on the wrist or just scot free and took what he could get. The Washington State DOC that let a convicted killer of a minor go to a min security institution should have been bitch smacked.

Yeah, I hear ya. It just pisses me off when they give this guy the weakest possible sentence just because they couldn't or wouldn't prosecute him to the fullest extent. Was there any reasonable doubt of this guy's guilt? I mean, what gives? These types of individuals are pretty much the worst types of people that would do it again without even thinking twice. I'm positive he's done it again since being released from the country club. I guarantee that he thought since he got such a light sentence that time, that he could do it again and the consequences wouldn't be that bad (just like the consequences for Laura Burbank's rape and murder). Does anyone know if he was caught for sexual battery and/or murder of a girl again and is locked up where he belongs? He looked pretty old and rough in the UM segment, so maybe he's dead now (hopefully).

[kadrmas15]

Well, I dont think 20 years in prison is a lenient sentence but that is just me. The prison wasnt a 'country club' I dont think any prison is a 'country club'. However I do agree that someone convincted of any violent crime shouldnt be placed in a minimum security facility. Only inmates convicted of non violent crimes and that are serving very short sentences should be placed in minimum security facilities and even minimum security facilities should have high fences with barbed wire on the top and double and triple fencing. I dont disagree there.

Well, rehabilitation is a great model but yes in the 1970's it was at a different level. I mean obviously today a man who is a convicted child killer wouldnt be placed in a minimum security facility. It just wouldnt happen. In most if not all states now, if you are doing time for a violent crime and your sentence is longer than 5 years you are not eligible for anything lower than a medium security facility.

But at the same time I wouldnt say any prison is a country club. Some prisons might be a country club compared to others but no prison overall is a country club. The state screwed up in putting Fisher where they did. They didnt take the crime as seriously as they should have. However while his sentence is light compared to a life sentence or a death sentence it is a lot better than the alternative. Think if he would have been acquitted? He would have got no time at all!

Different people have different versions of reasonable doubt. You also have to remember this was 1970 and the standards were a lot different than they were then. It was more difficult to get a conviction then. Convictions without a body were nothing short of impossible. In fact people werent even charged back then without bodies, it just wasnt done. Now, Laura Burbank's body was found but it was badly decomposed. This destroyed some if not all of the forensic evidence. It was just a different time period. We all know if this crime happened in modern times that Fisher wouldnt have gotten a 20 year sentence and be out in parole in 10 even in Washington State. It just wouldnt happen.

[synthisislab]

Not a country club?! Didn't someone say it had a 3 hole golf course? Does it have to have 18 to be considered a country club to you?

[kadrmas15]

I honestly dont know if it had a golf course or not. You are acting like it was Augusta at a prison or something. Regardless of the prison, Fisher shouldnt have been placed there because of the crime and s entence he was serving. However he was and it was a mistake. I'm not going to argue with you about it, I am just telling you that no prison is a 'country club'. Yes some might be country club's compared to others but no prison overall is a country club. We will have to agree to disagree.

[marlins3]

This scumbag should have been castrated with a rusty blade. I wish Mr. Burbank would have shot him.