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| Suit accuses state of coddling murderer |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 11/17/2003 |
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The parents of a murder victim have filed a lawsuit against Alabama accusing officials of coddling the killer by letting him live at a state trooper post rather than in prison. The suit filed by Joe and Dalene Gamble said their daughter's former husband, Billy Dwight Nelson, served several years in a trooper station apartment with air conditioning and a computer. Although the suit seeks $60 million in damages, Joe Gamble said the family filed it to keep other families from experiencing what they did. "We're doing it for victims like us," he said. The lawsuit alleges fraud, conspiracy and violations of the state constitution by the state Department of Corrections, state Department of Public Safety and some state and local officials. Public Safety spokeswoman Martha Earnhardt and Corrections spokesman Brian Corbett declined comment on the suit, but they said the jail waiver program used by Nelson has been revised. Prisoners are no longer allowed to live at trooper posts, Earnhardt said. Nelson, 47, received a 30-year prison sentence after pleading guilty in 1980 in Calhoun County to the murder of the Gambles' daughter, Karen Gamble Nelson. The divorced couple had two children. In April, the Montgomery Advertiser reported that Nelson had been living at the state trooper post in Jacksonville since 1994. Another murderer also lived at the post. The revelations drew complaints from a crime victims' group and prompted a review by state officials. The Gambles' attorney, George Jones, said Nelson not only lived at the trooper post, he ran a mechanic's business for profit. |
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