BOSTON (WHDH) - The Massachusetts Governor’s Council is holding a public hearing Wednesday on Gov. Charlie Baker’s recommended commutation of a man’s first-degree murder sentence.
On Jan. 12, Baker recommended that the first-degree murder sentence of William Allen, 48, be commuted to second-degree murder.
The commutation must be approved by the Governor’s Council and if approved, Allen will be eligible for a parole hearing.
Allen has served 27 years in prison for his role in the murder of Purvis Bester.
He addressed the Governor’s Council and Bester’s family Wednesday and apologized for his actions.
“I would now like to graciously thank Leah Cole, Miss Hattie Bester, and the rest of the Bester family for finding it in their hearts to forgive me for the part I played in taking Mr. Bester away from them,” he said. “I am truly sorry.”
On February 8, 1994, Allen and a co-defendant broke into Bester’s Brockton apartment intending to rob him, and the co-defendant fatally stabbed Bester, according to Baker’s office.
On August 29, 1997, a Brockton Superior Court jury convicted Allen of first-degree murder for his joint participation in the robbery, and he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
While incarcerated, Baker’s office says Allen participated in significant programming, including restorative justice and violence alternatives as both a student and a facilitator. He has earned vocational licenses to be a barber, food service worker, and law clerk, served as a Eucharistic minister for the Catholic community, and consistently held a job, including working as a companion and assistant to severely mentally ill patients at Bridgewater State Hospital.
New England Patriots safety Devin McCourty has long been a supporter of Allen and continues to advocate for his release.
He spoke before the council Wednesday and said, “William now has a friend in me, as he’s released, he can call on and say, ‘Hey, I’m interested in this. Do you have a resource there? I’m interested in that. Do you know anyone who does that?’ But most importantly I think he has a friend that he can call on.”
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