Former Akron police captain Doug Prade’s hopes of being released from prison have been dashed – at least for now.
The Ohio Parole Board has denied Prade’s first request for parole and ordered that he remain in prison until at least 2033 when he will have another hearing.
“The brutality and callousness of his crime outweighs any positive parole suitability factors in his case,” the board said. “Therefore, the board considers additional incarceration appropriate.”
Prade, 79, was convicted in the November 1997 shooting death of his ex-wife, Dr. Margo Prade and sentenced to life in prison. He has maintained his innocence from the start and continued his claim during a recent prison interview with the Beacon Journal.
Prade had a hearing June 4 before members of the parole board. A majority of the nine board members weren’t present, which moved the case to a Central Office Board Review. The board review allowed the other board members to access the case.
If the board members had recommended that Prade be released, a full hearing would have been held in which Prade’s attorney, a prosecutor and Margo Prade’s family members could have spoken.
“I’m so happy!” said Denise Shamberger-Robbins, one of Margo’s sisters who lives in Las Vegas. “I don’t know what else to say.”
Sahara Prade, Doug and Margo Prade’s surviving daughter who also lives in Vegas, said she is disappointed but is “kind of numb to it at this point.” She said she exchanged messages with her father, who is incarcerated at London Correctional Institution, located south of Columbus.
“He says he’s still going to fight but I’m sure he’s discouraged,” she said.
Margo Prade is slain in November 1997
Margo Prade, 41, was a respected family doctor with thousands of patients.
Doug and Margo Prade, who had two daughters, were divorced and she was involved with a Columbus attorney whom she planned to marry.
Margo Prade was found slain in her van in the parking lot of her Akron medical practice on the day before Thanksgiving in 1997. She had been shot six times and fought with her killer.
Doug Prade was convicted after a jury trial in September 1998 of aggravated murder and other charges and was sentenced to life in prison with possible parole after 26 years.
Prosecutors said he stalked his ex-wife and taped hundreds of her phone calls prior to her slaying.
A Summit County judge found that Prade was innocent in 2013 based on new DNA evidence and ordered that he be released. However, the decision was overturned and Prade was ordered back to prison after being free for 18 months.
Prade’s hope for a new trial ended in 2019 when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear his case.
Prade has shared his theory of an alternate suspect for the murder of Margo and other women with police, local government leaders and members of the media for several years.
During a recent interview, Prade said he would focus on proving who actually killed his ex-wife if he were paroled. He said he knew the parole board wants inmates to accept responsibility for their crimes.
“That’s something I can’t do because I didn’t do it,” he said. “I started the very day I got convicted trying to prove my innocence.”
What the parole board said about Doug Prade
The parole board was unanimous in its decision to deny Prade parole.
The vote was 5-1-1, with the two votes that strayed from the majority favoring a different amount of time before Prade is again eligible for parole, said JoEllen Smith, a spokesperson for the state prison system.
Prade will be 87 when he has his next parole hearing.
The board said in its one-page decision that Prade:
The board concluded that “the unique factors of the offense of conviction significantly outweigh the incarcerated individual rehabilitative efforts” and his release “would create undue risk to public safety and/or would not further the interest of justice nor be consistent with the welfare and security of society.”
Summit County Prosecutor Elliot Kolkovich, who wasn’t the prosecutor when Prade was convicted, said he was thankful that Prade’s parole was denied.
“Prade committed a brutal murder of an esteemed doctor and mother, and the effect of his crime is still being felt to this day nearly 28 years later,” he said. “He deserves to remain in prison for removing such a tremendous light from our community.”
Innocence Project attorney says Doug Prade was convicted based on junk science evidence
Brian Howe, Prade’s attorney with the Innocence Project, which has represented him for many years, said the board’s decision “does nothing to protect the people of Ohio.” He said Prade was convicted based on “bite mark testimony that we now know is junk science, and he has already served multiple decades in prison, despite DNA evidence suggesting the crime was committed by someone else.”
“The nature of the crime will not be any different in eight years or 100 years,” Howe said. “Douglas Prade is not and has never been a danger to the public. Keeping him in prison for another eight years is a cruel waste of hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars.”
When Shamberger-Robbins first learned of the decision, she said she nearly shouted for joy. She said she was nervous when Prade was released from prison and is relieved that he will remain there.
“I can’t tell you what a weight was lifted off of me,” she said.
(This story has been updated with additional information.)
Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3705.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Former Akron police captain Doug Prade is denied parole in ex-wife’s murder
Reporting by Stephanie Warsmith, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
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