Prisoners demand end of life without parole; murderers among those serving

Late last month, prisoners went on a work strike across Alabama in protest of the state’s criminal justice system.

The inmates released a list of demands to state leadership consisting of proposed reform measures to Alabama’s criminal code. Among the list of the proposed overhauls was the demand to end life without parole.

Murderers and a rapist-kidnapper are among those serving life-without-parole sentences.

Life without parole is a sentence handed down to criminals convicted of committing some of society’s most wicked offenses. It is not unusual for prisoners serving life sentences to hold extensive rap sheets that consist of numerous heinous crimes.

State Rep. Chris England (D-Tuscaloosa), former chairman of the Alabama Democratic Party, recently took to Twitter and declared there was “nothing unreasonable” about the list of demands.

Progressives have long sought so-called criminal justice reform. However, it remains to be seen if Democratic members of the Legislature will seek to spearhead such reforms. The Alabama Democratic Party has yet to respond to Yellowhammer News’ request for comment regarding its stance on the proposal.

In a statement to Yellowhammer News, Attorney General Steve Marshall called life-without-parole sentences “appropriate and necessary” for offenders ineligible for capital punishment.

“There are unspeakably heinous crimes perpetrated against victims who survive them, rather than succumb to them, making their offenders ineligible for the death penalty,” said Marshall. “When capital punishment is not an option, life without parole is an appropriate and necessary sentence for this class of offenders.”

“Furthermore, life without parole is equally required for offenders who commit horrific crimes and whose criminal records demonstrate they cannot return to society without continued threat to their victims and the public,” he said. “One such case is Timothy Earl Bester who was convicted in December in Jefferson County of rape, kidnapping, sexual abuse, and theft of property.”

The end of life without parole would allow some of the most violent criminals to re-enter into society. The following cases belong to criminals that have been sentenced to life without parole.

Timothy Earl Bester

Marshall announced Thursday that the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals ruled to uphold the convictions of Bester, a 41-year-old resident of Bessemer.

Bester was convicted of rape in the first degree, kidnapping in the first degree, sexual abuse in the first degree, and theft of property in the third degree. He was originally convicted of the crimes in Jefferson County Circuit Court on December 21, 2021.

For the offenses, Bester was sentenced to life without parole.

Evidence presented at trial showed Bester, in January and March 2019, kidnapped two women who he raped and terrorized over the course of several days. The women suffered multiple injuries from his heinous actions.

Bester’s convictions were recently affirmed by the appellate court on Oct. 7.

In announcing the ruling, Marshall said crimes such as Bester’s were why Alabama retains the sentence of life without parole.

“If you need any reason as to why the State of Alabama imposes prison sentences of life without the possibility of parole on non-capital offenders, this case is a museum-class exhibit,” said Marshall in a release. “Mr. Bester has certainly earned his life sentence and society is better off keeping him behind bars.”

Troy Connell

Connell was convicted in Bibb County of capital murder. The convicted party fired a shotgun from a vehicle, into another vehicle, which struck and killed Stephen Spears while he was driving on a rural highway. Spears was in the vehicle with his wife, Monica Spears.

Connell and his co-defendant drove away from the scene after the shooting occurred. Spears’ wife then attempted to flag down a vehicle for assistance. The flagged vehicle happened to be driven by Connell, who returned to the scene of the crime.

Connell exited the vehicle and beat Spears’ wife with a chain, while his co-defendant drug Spears’ body out of the car to steal money out of his wallet.

At the time of the crime, Connell was 18. He was recently resentenced to life without parole.

Jonathan Katan

Katan was convicted in Montgomery County of capital murder for killing his two-year-old son, who he placed between the mattress and bed rail. Katan called law enforcement and attempted to convince authorities that his son had smothered to death.

Upon investigation, it was determined that the child was punched in the head multiple times, which led to the toddler sustaining fatal blunt-force injuries. The child’s cause of death was head trauma, according to medical examiners.

After his capital murder conviction, Katan was tried once more in Montgomery County for criminal solicitation. Katan attempted to hire a hitman from jail to murder the father of his girlfriend’s child.

Brent Springford

Springford was convicted in Montgomery County of capital murder for killing his parents. He pled guilty to capital murder with an agreement of a sentence of life without parole.

On Thanksgiving Day, Springford laid in wait for his parents to return home. Upon their return, Springford bludgeoned them both to death with a tool and then stabbed them with a knife.

According to evidence, Springford’s mother attempted to crawl away from him after being injured. Her escape was unsuccessful, as he returned to complete the murder with a knife.

Springford committed suicide in prison in 2013.

Dylan Smith is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSmithAL