Clemency Sought by Convict

75¢ COLBY Thursday June 26, 2014 Volume 125, Number 100 Serving Thomas County since 1888 8 pages FFREEREE PPRESSRESS Clemency sought by convict By Sam Dieter shot Harkins, who had been a vice Colby Free Press president of Sunflower Bank, in [email protected] her home in Colby on March 31, 1997. A Colby man convicted for His story during the ensuing murdering his fiancee in the 1990s trial was centered around money. applied for executive clemency, The two got into an argument in an act which could get him out which Harkins criticized Pabst’s of jail or result in a shorter prison latest job opportunity, he said, Courtesy of LaDonna Regier sentence. and made him feel worthless. So Dr. LaDonna Regier showed pictures of people “hawking” (above), or selling produce by the roadside produce near a village This is the last day the public he gave his fiancée a .44 caliber in Ghana last Thursday while talking about her mission trip there. Nurses in the clinic talked with a mother (below) about her can comment on the case of Tod revolver, telling her to shoot him child. Regier’s security guard Baba posed for a shot (bottom right) with the new generator installed at the clinic where she Alan Pabst, who shot his fiancée if he was so worthless. But in- worked. Regier herself was shown in a pictures (bottom left), making a traditional dish out of cassava and plantains. Phoebe Harkins in 1997, and ap- vestigators gathered ballistic evi- plied for clemency this month. dence contradicted this claim at The public had until 15 days after the scene, where Harkins was shot the notice of his application was twice. The evidence indicated she published in the June 11 Colby had been shot from several feet Free Press to comment. Gov. Sam away, and while sitting down. Doctor shares mission tale Brownback will make the final de- The court later found that Ste- cision of whether to grant Pabst’s phen Maxwell, the prosecutor in By Sam Dieter application, after it goes through the case, used improper conduct Colby Free Press the Kansas Parole Board. at the end of the trial. Maxwell [email protected] Any convict can apply for repeatedly told the jury during his A Colby missionary told the story of her clemency, and the state parole closing argument that the suspect effort to save and change lives in the African board weighs each case and sends lied, prompting Pabst’s defense country of Ghana last week. a report to the governor. Before attorney to move for a mistrial at Dr. LaDonna Regier described her experi- clemency can be granted, notice one point. ences in the impoverished African nation to that the convict applied for it must Pabst’s conviction was over- a local audience last Thursday evening at the be published to give members of turned because of these remarks, Trinity Lutheran Church. She has made sev- the public, the victim or the vic- but when the case was retried in eral visits to different parts of the country as tim’s family, time to weigh in on 2000, the conviction was upheld. a missionary doctor, treating local patients. A the matter. Pabst filed a motion for post- knee injury sent her home from one of her lat- If clemency is granted, the con- conviction relief to the Kansas est trips. viction remains on a convict’s re- Supreme Court, pointing out that She made her last trip to the country after cord. But the board can reduce the Pedro Irigonegaray – an attorney she hurt her knee badly enough to need sur- time of their prison sentence. Harkins’ family hired to work on gery. After the operation, Regier realized she The case was the last murder the retrial – had a conflict of in- had it better than her patients in Ghana. Instead in Colby before William Shank terest from past cases that would of surgery after that kind of injury, she said, allegedly killed his ex-girlfriend have affected his second trial. they would have been dragging a leg around Teri Morris in February 2013. He worked on an adoption case for the rest of their lives. They might have died Pabst’s application for clemency for Pabst’s child, and represented from blood loss or infection. follows a series of unsuccessful Harkins’ family on other legal appeals to his sentence made for matters which would have been See “MISSION,” Page 2 over a decade after his conviction. affected by the trial verdict. That Pabst was convicted of pre- motion was denied in 2006, then meditated first degree murder again in August 2008, after Pabst after a trial in August 1997. He appealed. College hires data manager Colby Community Trustees session. She had been making brought in a new administrator at about $58,000 a year. a special meeting Friday morning. In other business, the trustees: The trustees voted to hire An- • Approved supplemental con- gel Morrison as the director of tracts for Dr. Shad Clymer as a data management for a salary of veterinary pharmacology instruc- $51,000 per year at the brief meet- tor, and Melissa Vogt as a veteri- ing. College President Stephen nary coagulation and transfusion Vacik told the trustees that Mor- instructor. Professional contracts rison would have basically the were approved for Vogt as the vet- same job as the outgoing Dean of erinary technology distance learn- Students, Xuemei Yang. At their ing director, and Michelle Meyer April meeting the trustees voted as the instrumental music director. not to renew Dr. Yang’s contract, • Approved two payment of which expires at the end of this claims resolutions, for $1,225,535 month, after a brief closed-door and $794,266. School’s rising expenses lead to higher fees By Sam Dieter The board also cut the time that the Jumpstart pro- In other business, the board: ments for students who become valedictorians and Colby Free Press gram will be open this summer, from eight to four • Set textbook fees at $75 and activity fees at $35 salutatorians, who are now required to take two for- [email protected] days. This has been part of the after school program per activity, for not more than $95 per student. This eign language classes, as well as biology, chemistry since last year. During the school year, the program represents a five dollar increase in both book and ac- and physics. The handbook also clarified the absence The Colby School Board prepared the district for has been open for kids in the afternoon from Monday tivity fees from last year. In both cases, Harrison said policy to say that high school students are required the coming school year at its monthly meeting Mon- to Thursday. this is the first increase in three years. by law to attend school. Students will have a letter day night, passing several price increases for servic- Superintendent Terrel Harrison said budget cuts • Set school meal prices, with a slight increase sent to their parents after five absences; the school es provided by the district. reduced the federal grant of just under $600,000 over last year. Breakfast will cost $1.45 for students will have a conference with parents after seven ab- For one of the actions, the board voted to start which had been used to fund the activities. Jo DeY- in kindergarten to eighth grade, $1.55 for high school sences, and after 10 absences a student should have a charging for the year-old after school program, a se- oung, business manager for the school district, said students and $1.85 for adults. Lunch will cost $2.60 doctor’s note saying they are absent. Students cannot ries of activities which had been free for grade school the district will get only $75,000 of the $125,000 for grade school students, $2.70 for middle school participate in extracurricular activities if they had an students in the area. The school will now charge $15 federal grant it expected to receive to run the pro- students, $2.80 for high school students and $4 for absence that day. per month per student for most, $2.25 for students gram in the coming year. She said she does not know adults. Harrison said there was a four percent in- When the board members also questioned who qualify for reduced-price lunches and kept the how much the district will get beyond that point. The crease in food prices from last year, and the increase the change to the dress code to required simply program free of charge for students who qualify for school district might have to pay for the activities in meal prices mirrors some surrounding schools. “shirts and tops,” Harrison said the regulations free lunches. entirely on its own in the future. Last year, breakfast prices ranged from $1.35 for Board President Janice Frahm, the only board The program started in the spring of 2013; the kindergarten to $1.75 for adults, and lunch cost from See “FEES,” Page 2 member to vote against the proposal, said $2.25 district has used $217,824 of the grant which came $2.30 for kindergarten to $3.75 for adults. Milk still was too little to charge for at-risk students. Member to the school through the 21st Century Communi- costs .25 for one carton. Brice Barton argued that those students are the ones ty Learning Center. It was meant to fund the after • Approved handbook changes for the school year. who need to be in the after school program the most.

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