Mother of Parkville Murder Victim Demands Huckabee Records
The mother of a murdered Parkville woman is demanding the release of Arkansas Governor and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee’s records regarding the case of the man who killed her daughter.
The issue revolves around the murder of Carol Sue Shields, 39, a Parkville resident who was found murdered in a Kansas City, North apartment complex on Sept. 20, 2000. While investigating the crime, police found that Shields had fought back, and DNA led them to Wayne DuMond – a former Arkansas convict who had been sentenced to life plus 20 years in prison for the murder and rape of a 17-year-old girl but was paroled – a parole that then Gov. Mike Huckabee had an unusually heavy hand in.
One day before the Iowa Caucus elections, Shields’ mother, Lois Davidson, issued a press release stating the formation of a 527 group – a tax-exempt political advocacy organization with the apparent aim of ruining Huckabee’s bid for the presidency. Examples of a 527 group include the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth group – generally credited with helping defeat Democrat John Kerry’s 2004 presidential bid and MoveOn.org’s liberal Voter Fund.
Davidson, who lives in Adrian, Mo., is asking for the publication of letters that rape victims of DuMond claim they sent to Huckabee when the Governor announced plans for commuting his sentence. She is also inquiring about Huckabee’s fundraising. In a press release, Davidson alleges he has received money from a fundraiser conducted by DuMond’s wife’s boss and other people connected to commuted sentences engineered by Huckabee.
As governor, Huckabee granted 1,033 pardons and commutations, 12 were convicted murderers – a point his chief political rival and presidential candidate Mitt Romney has been quick to point out in campaign ads and stump speeches in Iowa.
Huckabee has apologized and expressed extreme regret for the parole of DuMond, saying he wished he “could go back and reverse the clock and put him back in prison.” Former members of the Arkansas parole board have said his involvement in the case led to his release. The parole board, who had only months earlier denied DuMond’s parole request, did an about face after the newly sworn in Arkansas Governor appeared before the board in 1996 to urge his release. Huckabee has denied asking the board to take any specific action, but in a statement released by Huckabee at the time of the parole, he said he agreed with the decision.
“The action of the board accomplishes what I sought to do in considering an earlier request for commutation,” Huckabee said after DuMond’s parole.
The DuMond case presents a portrait of the partisan politics of the time, particularly in Arkansas. DuMond was convicting for murdering and raping a cheerleader that was the second cousin of then Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton. As DuMond awaited trial, he claimed to be castrated by two unknown assailants. His case soon garnered sympathy from Republicans who questioned Clinton’s role in the sentencing of DuMond, who claimed to be born again.
DuMond was paroled in 1996 and was released from prison in 2000 after marrying a woman from Smithville, Mo. Within months, DuMond had assaulted, tortured and killed Shields. He was found guilty of the crime in 2004 and sentenced again to life in prison. DuMond was also suspected of killing Platte County’s Sarah Andrasek, a 23-year-old expecting mother, in 2001. He was never convicted of that crime, although the Platte County Prosecutor, Republican Eric Zahnd had spent three years developing a case. DuMond died of cancer in 2005 at the age of 55.