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By TERRIE MORGAN-BESECKER [email protected]
Monday, March 28, 2005 Page: 1A
WILKES-BARRE – After serving nearly 13 years for the murder of his wife,
Betty, E. Glen Wolsieffer has won his freedom on his sixth try before the
state parole board, Betty’s brother confirmed Sunday.
Jack Tasker said the news he has been dreading came in a certified letter
his 78-year-old mother, Marian, received Saturday. The parole board’s ruling
ends five years of efforts by Tasker’s family and law enforcement to ensure
Wolsieffer served the full term of his eight- to 20-year sentence for Betty’s
1986 murder.
The parole board’s decision is a disappointment, Tasker said, but was not
completely unexpected. He had gotten an omen of things to come when Wolsieffer
was chosen for review in January, six months before his scheduled review date.
“Evidently he impressed them enough this time to get out of prison,” Tasker
said from his Mountain Top home. “It’s an injustice to society and our family
he would get out before his maximum. … I guess they have their reasons.”
Marian Tasker said she suspected the news was bad when she saw the parole
board letter had come certified. Other letters she received advising her
Wolsieffer’s parole was denied were sent regular mail.
Getting word of his pending release the day before Easter was particularly
difficult because Betty so loved holidays, she said.
“The holidays were really special. It wasn’t just one, it was all of them,”
she said. “She was precious to me as well as all other people.”
The disappointment of the Tasker family was in contrast to the relief felt
by Wolsieffer’s family, according to his sister, Lisa Myers of Wilkes-Barre.
“Obviously we’re happy, but it’s a sad situation, no matter you look at
it,” Myers said. “It’s never going to go away. Betty’s gone.”
Myers, 43, said she continues to believe in her brother’s innocence and has
maintained close contact with him in prison. She said he phoned family members
Friday to advise them of the board’s decision.
“It’s a surprise to us as much as it is to anyone,” she said. “For 13 years
he did what he had to do to come home. … I think they just felt it was
time.”
Wolsieffer, 52, has been serving his sentence at the State Correctional
Institution in Frackville. He had not been released from the facility as of
Sunday night, according to an employee there.
Tasker said the parole board letter said Wolsieffer will be transferred to
a halfway house upon his release, where he will stay for a yet undetermined
amount of time. He will then be released into the community under the
supervision of a parole agent until 2012 – his maximum sentence date.
Wolsieffer was convicted in November 1990 of third degree murder for
strangling Betty, 32, to death in their home at 75 Birch St. on Aug. 30, 1986.
He began serving his sentence in June 1992 after exhausting his appeals.
Police said Wolsieffer, a handsome and popular dentist, was having an
affair with another woman and killed Betty as their 5-year-old daughter,
Danielle, slept in an adjoining bedroom. Wolsieffer claimed a masked intruder
broke into the home and killed his wife after knocking him unconscious. Police
investigated the case for three years before gathering enough evidence to
arrest him.
Wolsieffer has steadfastly maintained his innocence while in prison – a
factor one of his appellate attorneys, William Ruzzo, said likely played a
major role in his earlier parole denials.
Over the years, the board has cited a litany of reasons for denying
Wolsieffer parole. In the first denial in March 2000, the board demanded he be
evaluated to determine if he needed sexual offender treatment due to his
numerous extramarital affairs and “view of women.”
The latest denial, issued in July 2004, was based on his refusal to accept
responsibility, lack of remorse and his version of the offense committed, a
board spokeswoman previously said.
Ruzzo said he has not spoken to Wolsieffer, but he seriously doubts he
would have admitted to the crime. He said the board in recent years has
acquiesced on requiring admissions of guilt, and he’s not surprised Wolsieffer
won his freedom this time around.
“They ran out of excuses,” Ruzzo said. “He has done everything they asked
him to, participated in every program. He should have been released on his
minimum.”
Myers said she doesn’t know her brother’s plans upon release, but suspects
his priorities will be to spend time with his mother, Phyllis, and daughter,
who was age 11 when he went to prison. She’s now 24 and has a 7-year-old
daughter.
Tasker offered his thanks to law enforcement agencies for their effort in
obtaining the conviction and for their continuing efforts to fight
Wolsieffer’s parole. He noted Luzerne County District Attorney Dave Lupas has
written detailed letters each year outlining his opposition to Wolsieffer’s
release.
He said his family now will concentrate on moving on with their lives, just
a Wolsieffer will now move on with his. He just wishes he could say the same
for his sister.
“He will at least have some type of life and move on. She will never come
back.”
Aug. 30, 1986 – 32-year-old Betty Wolsieffer strangled in the Birch Street
home she shared with her husband, Dr. E. Glen Wolsieffer, and daughter,
Danielle.
Oct. 16, 1986 – Glen’s brother Neil Wolsieffer dies in motor vehicle
accident on the same day he was scheduled to talk with police about what he
knew about Betty’s murder. Death later ruled suicide.
Dec. 3, 1986 – Police send Glen Wolsieffer’s attorney Mark Ciavarella a
letter identifying Glen as a suspect in his wife’s murder.
Nov. 2, 1989 – Wolsieffer arrested in Falls Church, Va.
Nov. 20, 1990 – Wolsieffer found guilty of third-degree murder.
June 16, 1992 – Wolsieffer begins serving an eight- to 20-year prison
sentence.
April 27, 1993 – Wolsieffer transferred from the State Correctional
Facility at Camp Hill to the State Correctional Facility at Frackville.
March 2000 – Parole denied for the first time. Parole board recommends
Wolsieffer be evaluated to determine if he needs sexual offender treatment,
citing his “view of women” and numerous extramarital affairs.
March 2001 – Parole denied for second time.
March 2002 – Parole denied for third time. Parole board directs Wolsieffer
to complete a victim empathy program.
July 2003 – Parole denied for fourth time.
July 2004 – Parole denied for fifth time.
Dec. 2004 – Betty Wolsieffer’s family notified Wolsieffer’s parole hearing
will be held in six months, or sooner. The parole review had been scheduled
for June 2005.
March 2005 – Parole board recommends Wolsieffer’s release.