By RICK MILLER
Olean Star
Edward Kindt was sentenced to seven days for time served in the Dutchess County Jail for violating his parole and returning to his boyhood home in Salamanca last month.
Kindt, 41, was convicted of the brutal murder of Penny Brown in Salamanca on Mother’s Day 1999 and sentenced to nine years to life in 2000.
He was paroled last year over the objections of Brown family members, Salamanca area residents and elected officials.
Kindt was arrested in Salamanca on July 23, a week after he left the group home he was staying in in Poughkeepsie after his parole last year.
The state Department of Corrections and Community Safety (DOCCS) notified Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Office late on July 22 that Kindt had absconded. A DOCCS team was sent to Salamanca to aid sheriff’s deputies and investigators. Kindt was taken into custody without incident.
He was explicitly prohibited from traveling to Salamanca as part of his parole and the Seneca Nation has extended his year-long banishment from Seneca Territory.
DOCCS charged Kindt with 15 parole violations that carried up to 30 days in jail. An administrative law judge who heard testimony from DOCCS officials on Aug. 15, reserved decision in the case against Kindt.
Kindt told the judge that he had difficulty in charging his GPS ankle bracelet and that he wanted to return home for his birthday and a Seneca holiday.
DOCCS spokesman Thomas Mailey issued the following statement on Thursday:
“Following a final hearing on Aug. 15, today Administrative Law Judge Marasa rendered the decision of a seven-day sentence for Mr. Kindt.,” Mailey wrote in an email.
“The defendant has been in custody since before the final hearing in August and so the seven day sentence has been satisfied.” he said. “Preparations are being made for Mr. Kindt’s release back to Dutchess County where he will be placed back on GPS monitoring and closely supervised.”
Assemblyman Joseph Giglio, R-Gowanda, was upset over what he considers a lenient sentence for a convicted murderer who absconded from the halfway house and somehow made it to Salamanca days before DOCCS knew he was missing.
“It’s sad to me,” Giglio said. “It’s sad to watch so many things wrong and he (Kindt) refuses to follow the rules of a civilized society and who gets break after break after break. I am sorry for Brown family who have to keep reliving it.”
Giglio said the “Less is More” parole reform law Kindt was sentenced under “is a joke.”
“The Seneca Nation told him he wasn’t allowed on their territory,” Giglio said. “He told the judge it was his birthday and he wanted to see his mother. The (DOCCS) enable people like him. It’s a disaster.”
