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Concord / Pembroke
 
Killer's child: no to parole
Aging inmate loses bid for release into society
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November 13, 2009 - 12:00 am

The first people to oppose parole for Clifford Avery Jr. yesterday were not the siblings of his murder victim nor the former police chief who investigated him for child rape. It was Avery's own daughter.

"I don't want my father out of prison, because I feel if he does get out, he will (murder) or do some other heinous crime again," said Sherry Phillips. "We all live in fear. Please don't let him out for my family's sake and everybody else's."

The parole board agreed, denied Avery's parole request and said it wouldn't hear another for 10 years. By then, Avery will be 73.

In 1975, Avery received a life sentence, which at the time was 18 years, for the murder of 18-year-old Lee Ann Greeley of Concord. He was charged but never tried for also murdering her fiance, Gary Russell of Pembroke. Avery escaped from prison in 1977 for 12 days but still managed to earn parole in 1988.

About two years later, Avery was back in prison for allegedly kidnapping and raping an 11-year-old Henniker boy. That trial ended in a hung jury, but the board revoked Avery's parole after concluding it had enough evidence to find Avery guilty.

"We still consider you a danger to society," parole board Chairman Alan Coburn told Avery yesterday.

Board member Pierre Morin added, "You still deny any complicity in this (murder), which in effect means you are completely remorseless."

Avery did not respond to the board's decision.

The hearing was an emotional one for Avery's family and his victims' families. Some asked that Avery, who appeared by video from the Berlin prison, not hear them speak.

Greeley's sister, Sara Greeley Porter of Pennsylvania, wrote a letter to the board opposing Avery's early release. Her two brothers, William and Robert Greeley, traveled from Boston. William Greeley, 65, struggled to get through his remarks.

"My sister . . . was brutally murdered by this monster," William Greeley said. "Avery not only shot my sister in the back, but he (also) turned her over and shot her again in the front, then threw her body into the Merrimack River, where she was found five months later."

He told the board his father committed suicide after Lee Ann was killed. He asked that the parole board make Avery wait at least 10 years before renewing his parole request.

"We do not want him out of prison, as he will probably kill, hurt or rape someone," William Greeley said. "We are sure of that. How many more families will suffer?"

Lisa Cote, Russell's niece, also attended the hearing.

"I have family that actually fears the man and his name," she said. "I don't think he needs to be out."



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