# Chief Robert J. Mortell. EOW 02/01/94



## RodneyFarva (Jan 18, 2007)

Posted Jan 29, 2019 at 9:11 PM
Updated Jan 30, 2019 at 8:33 AM
NATICK – The third time may or may not be a charm for 46-year-old Kenneth B. Padgett, who made his case Tuesday before the state Parole Board, seeking early release from life imprisonment for the 1994 murder of Paxton Police Chief Robert J. Mortell.

Mr. Padgett, who with two co-defendants, has been in prison for 24 years for his role in the crime. He has been denied parole twice, most recently in 2014. At that time, the Parole Board expressed concern about his past activity in a white supremacist group in prison and his inactivity to address “racial hatred as a rehabilitative need.”

Mr. Padgett told the board at the 2014 hearing that he renounced his association with the group shortly after his first parole hearing. On Tuesday, he said he had associated with the group for a little over a year, and that after his first hearing a Catholic nun who serves as a chaplain at MCI-Norfolk helped him understand the negative ramifications of racism. He said he has participated in programs to combat violence and he is deeply involved in a Catholic program and music ministry.

He also pointed out that he works with the NEADS program, and is on a waiting list to get a dog to train.

“It took the programs and spiritual counseling to realize how damaging racism is to our society. I am so sorry for spreading this hate,” he told the seven-member Parole Board. “Today, I don’t hold any of those beliefs.”

Board members took turns asking him when he changed his white supremacy beliefs. They noted that he filed an appeal after his parole was denied because he didn’t agree with their opinion.

He told them that he was embarrassed and angry because he felt like board members were not listening to him when he told them he was no longer involved with white supremacy.

Before that, dressed in dress slacks, a shirt and tie, with shackles around his ankles, Mr. Padgett apologized to members of the Mortell family in the hearing room and others who knew the well-respected police chief and community leader.


“It tears me apart that I was involved in something that was so devastating to so many people ... No little girl should ever come home from school and hear her father was murdered,” he said.

Mr. Padgett was 22 on Feb. 1, 1994, when he and Michael D. Souza and Jaime C. Richards, all three from Worcester, were breaking into homes in Holden when their stolen minivan got stuck in a snowbank. The trio switched to a Department of Public Works truck that Mr. Souza carjacked at gunpoint. When that truck also got stuck in a snowbank, the three men fled on foot.

Chief Mortell, a 38-year-old married father of three, was responding to a request from Holden police that he and his tracking dog, Ginger, help find the suspects. After spotting the men, the chief followed them into the woods near Route 31 in Holden. During an exchange of gunfire, Mr. Souza, who was separated from the other two, shot the chief twice, killing him.

Mr. Souza was convicted of first-degree murder without a chance of parole. The other two men were eligible for parole after serving 15 years of a second-degree murder life sentence. Mr. Richards was denied parole in October 2017 and cannot go back before the Parole Board until 2022. At his hearing, board members said Mr. Richards appeared defiant, angry and unprepared.

Besides being sentenced to life with the possibility of parole, Mr. Padgett was given a consecutive sentence of 9 to 10 years for burglaries that happened a few months before the murder. Because they were nonviolent offenses, he would be eligible to seek parole after serving one-third of the sentence. He asked the Parole Board to allow him to serve the 9- to 10-year sentence and come back to them in three years.

About 20 people attended Tuesday’s hearing in support of Mr. Padgett. Nearly twice that many – including more than a dozen police, mostly from Paxton and Holden – sat on the opposite side of the room. Others viewed the hearing in an overflow room. Five people from each side addressed the board. Several police officers spoke about how the senseless killing of a pillar of the community, whom several said was their mentor, has affected so many people.

Mr. Padgett’s supporters included an uncle, a younger brother and an older sister, who said they are proud of the man Mr. Padgett has become. His sister, Katrina Downes, said he would be able to live with her in Florida if he is paroled. LeVarne Carter Jr., pastor of the church Ms. Downes attends in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, also spoke about the help he would extend to Mr. Padgett with finding an apartment and job.

Mr. Carter said he is also a chaplain with the New Smyrna Beach Police Department. The retired Navy veteran previously served as a chaplain for the Volusia County Branch jail.

He suggested that Mr. Padgett can share his life experiences, especially with young men, to deter others from making unwise decisions.

“And, if given a chance, he will come to the full understanding that one can’t erase the past, but by striving to live right in the present through service to others can produce a better future for all,” Mr. Carter to the board.

Michele R. King, assistant district attorney in Worcester, pointed out that from 2010 to the present, 462 U.S. law enforcement officers have been murdered by gunfire alone. Last year, 52 law enforcement officers were gunned down in the line of duty, including two in Massachusetts. She said their killers, much like Mr. Padgett, were no strangers to the criminal justice system. She urged the board to send a strong message that law enforcement lives matter and those who take their lives should serve life in prison.

Chief Mortell’s daughter, Erin, who was 11 when her father was killed, sat at a table at the front of the hearing room between her mother and brother when she spoke.

She said her father had planned to speak to her fifth-grade class about the DARE program on the day he was killed.

“We live a life sentence every day, not seeing my father ever again ... not hearing his voice,” Ms. Mortell said tearfully.

She said she feels like Mr. Padgett only takes initiatives, particularly regarding rehabilitative programs, when his parole hearing is coming up. She said he spoke about being on waiting lists for different things and being involved with the Catholic Church.

“What about the commandment, ‘Thou shall not kill?’ Well, check that off your list,” she said angrily.

Asked about his background, Mr. Padgett told the board that after his parents divorced when he was young, he felt abandoned by his father, who is now deceased. When he visited his father on the weekends, he was placed in front of a video game until it was time for him to go back home.

He said he began smoking marijuana at age 12 and progressed to alcohol, LSD and cocaine. An uncle, Richard Maquire, who testified on Mr. Padgett’s behalf, told the board that his nephew was actually 10 when he started using drugs.

Mr. Padgett said he dropped out of school after the eighth grade and went to work pumping gas. His first child, a son, was born when he was 15, soon followed by the birth of a daughter who died.

He said his male role model was Mr. Souza, who was three years older - and who was described at the hearing as antisocial and fascinated with killing police.

The three young men began their criminal lives together breaking into homes and motor vehicles to get money to support themselves and feed their drug habits. They moved up to robbing banks. Mr. Padgett said he and Mr. Souza got away with about $62,000 when they robbed a bank in Framingham. He carried a weapon during that robbery, but said he’s not sure if he would have used it.

He told the board that he tried to dissuade his cohorts from bringing guns with them during burglaries.

Mr. Padgett’s mother, Carol Padgett, sat in the second row. She said she hadn’t seen him in a while because she does not have a car. Her son had been a good kid, with no male role model, who was always looking to be accepted.

“Some of the things he did, I didn’t know about because I worked nights,” she said.


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## pahapoika (Nov 5, 2006)

Wow, has it been that long ?
I remember the case, but completely forgot all about it.
Hated doing parole hearings. A lot of it was a waste of time . Think the inmates just like getting out of prison for the day.


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## PBC FL Cop (Oct 22, 2003)

None of them should ever leave prison while they are still breathing...


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## Kilvinsky (Jan 15, 2007)

I remember the funeral well. I was still in the Honor Guard and Ch. 5 actually interviewed me while we waited to kick off the procession.

He didn't kill Chief Mortell. This douche just may have seen the light, but is he totally cured of his scuminess? I want to believe he is, but if he truly is, he won't beg for freedom, he'll ask to do his time to pay for his involvement.

I'm actually on the fence. Whatever the parole board decides, I can live with, but then again, I'm not a member of the Mortell family.


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